Shaping the Future
by Slurpee Monster
Summary: Tallest Miyuki is rescued from the Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob by the Resisty who wants to use her to end Operation Impending Doom Two, but the Former Tallest has her own plans in mind. Miyuki/Lard Nar Romance
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes/Disclaimer/ Warnings: **Welcome to my third Invader Zim fanfic (the second with chapters) I do not own Invader Zim its self. Johnen Vasquez and Nicktoons do, and I don't exactly have the money to buy their rights away sooo… I write fanfics. Yes, so I don't own the characters or anything silly like that.

Warning: You might have noticed that this fic is rated M. You might also notice as you begin reading that there is very little proof that this fic should be rated M, but just you wait… there will be many chapters filled with all sorts of things! However, this isn't going to be a slash and there isn't going to be any smut. There will be Mature Subject Matter and some violence. Yes. All and all I would rate this fic 14A.

The main characters of IZ will not be appearing very much in this fic, just so you know, and there will be SO MUCH angst. You have been warned!

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**Revival of Miyuki**

It happened in an instant… she had been touring the labs on Vort when the Irken, Zim had unleashed a horrible creature on the world. She didn't have time to scream. All she could do was stare wide-eyed at the giant blob thing as it crashed down on her, devouring her in an instant. After that, everything became a sea of darkness.

A shock coursed through her body. Her pak had revived her.

Voices… her mind was swimming with past memories. She had been the Tallest… Her planet was called Irk. Everything else was jumbled and difficult to make out. Her purple eyes fluttered open. The lights were bright. She turned her head a little and breathed a sigh. There were wires sticking out of her pak… she stared at the machine she was connected to… a restoration machine? Was she hurt? She didn't feel hurt…

"Tallest Miyuki…?"

The voice sounded familiar… she felt like she should recognize it. She turned her eyes towards the source of the voice and found a small grey alien with green goggles standing beside her. It was difficult to see his expression in the bright light. She blinked, and tried to force herself to lift her body off the metal table she had been resting on. Her movements were shaky and unreliable at best. The alien's hand rested on her shoulder; the pressure of his hand forced her to lie back down.

"Where am I…?" she questioned squinting a little as she attempted to make out the creature's face.

"What happened…?"

"Over a hundred years ago, you were devoured by an infinite energy absorbing creature."

Miyuki's eyes widened as flashes of the large beady-eyed creature entered her mind. She held her head and uttered a weak sounding noise.

"It's ok… we've rescued you," the grey creature with white horns continued. Miyuki's eyes had adjusted to the light. The alien standing before her was clearly Vortian.

"Am I on Vort?" she asked, and the Vortian made a sound of distaste.

"I wish," he spat crossing his arms. "Vort is currently the property of the Irken Empire. We haven't been able to land there in months."

"Why was Irk fighting with you…?" she questioned. Her thoughts were becoming clearer now, and she was able to move her body enough to sit up and look down at the small alien.

"They want to control the galaxy or something stupid like that," he responded.

"You... you're Nar aren't you…? I remember you from research station nine."

"Yes, that was me…" he sighed as he slid his gloved hand down his face. "It seems like such a long time ago…"

"You helped design the Massive."

"Don't remind me."

He drew closer to the metal table, and his expression became more severe as he continued to stare at the Irken female; the former Tallest. Too long he'd been forced to fight against the Irken Machine. He no longer trusted any Irken… not after witnessing the destruction they had caused on Vort.

"I must ask you, now that you know the current situation, what do you plan to do? Will you join us in our fight, or will you side with your people in taking over the galaxy? How you answer this questioned might determine how we treat you… just so you know."

"I won't be threatened into joining you Nar," Miyuki stated. More of her past memories were beginning to return to her now. The Vortians had been Irk's allies for generations. Before she had become Tallest, she had worked side by side with apprentice scientists from Vort. She had wanted to become a biogenetic engineer for the design and creation of smeets, but then the Tallest had died, and she had been the next to rule Irk.

"So you desire to return to Irk then…" Lard Nar murmured. He sounded disappointed.

"Yes I do… I wish to speak with the Tallest. Vort and Irk have always been allies…" her eyes narrowed into a frown as her mind played over this idea.

"Who is the Tallest now anyway?"

"There are two Tallest; I believe their names are Red and Purple," Lard Nar replied.

"Those two…?" Miyuki couldn't help herself, she started to laugh. "Oh my… but I'm remembering them from years ago. Surely they've gotten much taller." She shook her head and muffled her giggles. Miyuki hadn't gotten to know very many of the young Irkens during her reign, but she remembered touring the Irken Underground Training Facilities one time and was surprised to find two little Irkens fighting over a bag of chips.

When she had asked who they were, one of the instructors had told her their names; Red and Purple.

"This is no laughing matter!" Lard Nar snapped banging his fist into the table. He cringed and began rubbing his sore knuckles, but at least he had gotten the former Tallest's attention back.

"I'm sorry… you're right," Miyuki replied unplugging her pak from the machine before sliding from the table. This startled Lard Nar who took a few tentative steps back. He knew at any time the former Tallest could call on her mechanical legs and slice him in half…

She was wearing a formal purple robe tied at the waist with a lighter purple sash. It was the garment she wore when visiting allied planets; she preferred it over the Tallest's usual outfit of heavy metal armour.

When Miyuki noticed the Vortian's apprehension, she raised her antennae in a curious manner.

"Nar…? You don't have to be scared of me. I'm not going to hurt you."

The Vortian ground his teeth and lowered his head, closing his eyes as he tried to force the fear from his mind. He didn't want to admit that he was frightened of her… of them.

He felt her claws as she rested her hand on his shoulder. She was kneeling sot that she was eye level with him, and she had a kind expression on her face. His eyes traveled to her hand then returned to stare into her Irken eyes. She was from a time when Vortians and Irkens worked together to advance both races. Of course his reaction was confusing to her.

"You still look the same as you did all those years ago," she told him. "I guess that's why I didn't freak out when my PAK revived me. You helped me Nar… I will repay you for your kindness."

Feeling that she had made her point clear, she got back to her feet and stretched. Her muscles hurt from being trapped in one place for so long, and she was craving something to eat. A feeling of joy enveloped her when she flexed her hands. She could move again. It felt wonderful.

Without thinking, she called the mechanical legs from her pak, and they raised her off the floor. She hadn't been able to do this in years, and she was glad that her pak seemed to be functioning normally. They buckled a little before springing her into the air. The sharp ends caught a hold of the wall and she crawled along until she was hanging upside-down from the ceiling. Her eyes blinked when she caught sight of Lard Nar cowering underneath the table, and she sighed.

He had taken her words as a threat, and then when the mechanical legs appeared…

"Nar!?" she called from the ceiling. He didn't respond.

"Come out from under the table Nar," she insisted.

There was still no reply from the cowering Vortian.

"You're acting like a smeet."

He whimpered but still refused to move. It had been less frightening when she was weaker… why did Vortian technology have to work so well?

There was a loud sound of metal striking metal when Miyuki dropped down from the ceiling. The mechanical legs withdrew into her pak before she peered underneath the table. What had Nar gone through to make him so frightened of her? She wondered shaking her head sadly.

"Come," she said taking him forcefully by the hand and pulling him out. His body trembled. Surely she was going to kill him… he found himself getting pulled out of the room. It wouldn't be long before she ran into a member of the Resisty… how would she react then? He hadn't even told her that they were planning to go against the Irken Armada. They didn't have many weapons here, or food for that matter. It was difficult coming across supplies when Irk forces were constantly sweeping over the area…

She could probably kill them all with little effort. Maybe he should have thought about this before reviving her. Yes, he should have definitely thought about this before, but now it was too late.

Her hand fell away, and Lard Nar stopped, falling to his hands and knees as soon as she released him. They were in one of the many hallways of their hidden base. In fact, most of their base consisted of hallways. There were only four rooms: the bunking room, the storage room (which doubled as a medic room), the "snacking" room, and then his room which he shared unwillingly with Spleenk…

He got back to his feet and received a smile from Miyuki who had been debating over which path to take. The hallways were pretty maze-like. Many of the stupider members of the Resisty often got lost in this place.

"Feeling better yet?" she questioned as Lard Nar slowly got to his feet.

"Y-yeah…" he stammered. "You shouldn't use those metal legs here…"

"Oh… is that what the problem was? You should have said something; I would have put them away."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not too sure," she brought her finger to her chin as she thought about which direction to take. Another device sprung from her pak, and this caused Lard Nar to jump. The object landed in her hand and she watched it as it slowly began creating a map of the area.

"Hmm… there are only twelve life forms here, and all of them are gathered…" her head lifted and her antennae perked up as she turned to the right. "That way… There are four rooms and several hallways leading to and from these rooms, which doesn't really make sense… It's also detecting some kind of force field… I'm guessing it's to mask this place's location."

The device returned to her pak, and Lard Nar bit his lip. Why did he give her such an advantage? He hadn't even thought to take away some of the devices in her pak. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before she discovered their intentions.

"So the provisions are probably in the room with the most life forms."

"Yeah, that's how it usually is," Lard Nar replied with a frown. They were probably all stuffing their faces despite knowing that the food was going to have to last them at least a few weeks.

"Alright, let's go get something to eat. We'll talk more about my plans then." she said taking the right hall, and Lard Nar was forced to move quickly to keep up with her.

"Your plans…?" he questioned as the pit of fear began to grown inside his chest. "What do you mean? You can't just decide that…"

She stopped suddenly, and Lard Nar smacked into her. He landed on the floor and rubbed his head cringing when Miyuki's eyes fell on him.

"Oh right. I guess I should talk to the boss shouldn't I? This place has a boss doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" Lard Nar murmured. "That would be me."

"You?" she questioned in surprise. "I mean… sorry, I didn't realize."

"I can see that."

"Well, all I meant was that I wanted to discuss my plans for how I'm going to go about this whole mess. I'm thinking I would like to speak with the Tallest… but I don't exactly know how to come about it. I don't really want to go to Irk and have to sit through all of their formalities. The Control Brains will need to decide who should be Tallest. They might deactivate me or the residing Tallest, or they might make us all Tallests, or they could deactivate all of us and make someone else the Tallest… it's all very…"

"Stupid?"

"Well, it's not really something I want to invoke right now."

"Would it stop the Irken invasion?"

"If the Control Brains made three Tallest?"

"You could do something to stop the current Tallest then couldn't you?"

"No… I have a feeling that Red and Purple would shoot me down at every turn…"

"What if the Tallest were deactivated, and you took their place?"

"Do you honestly think I want to kill the Tallest?" Miyuki questioned. "I'm still Irken Nar, and besides, the possibility of that happening is very low."

"I guess… if you were terminated instead of them, it would defeat the purpose of us bringing you back," Lard Nar reasoned, and Miyuki's purple eyes narrowed as she glared down at him.

"You plan to use me? That's the reason you rescued me? I didn't think Vortians were that… that petty!" She snapped angrily, and she spun on her heel and marched off down the hallway much to Lard Nar's reaction. He had realized his slipped up, and had raised his arms to defend himself against her fury… but she hadn't struck him. Confused, he watched her back until she turned another corner. He sat up and listened worriedly for any sounds of explosions. An angry Irken could be very dangerous he knew.

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**More notes:** I guess I could use this space to ask for reviews. I love those you know. Yes. Write me some of those ok? I will update regardless! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: **Rated M for Angst! … Wait, you mean Angst isn't frightening enough for an M label? Why wasn't I informed of this!? Don't mind me; I just had some ice-cream. Yeah. It's the best. I'm only rating this fic M to be safe. T might work, but you can't be too careful… never too careful!

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**The Diminishing Resisty**

She was livid when she entered the room where the Resisty members were eating. Eyes from several species of alien stared frightened as the tall Irken female snagged a snack bar from an open box and tore open the wrapper. She ate three before sitting down at one of the tables and folding her arms crossly; her antennae were pressed flat against her head

No one said a word, and the room slipped into an awkward silence. Finally, after much staring and very little action, one of the Resisty members moved across from Miyuki. His name was Fleeb. He was short, yellow, and he had a screw sticking out of his head. The Irken Empire had taken his planet and had transformed it into a packaging center… he managed to escape only a short time ago, and he joined the Resisty hoping to free his people.

"Is something troubling you miss?" he asked, and Miyuki's antennae perked up.

"There's an Irken in here!" Shloonktapooxis suddenly shrieked, and another Resisty member tackled him to the ground.

Fleeb ignored his companion's outburst and continued to search the Irken female's eyes. She blinked, realizing that the look this alien was giving her was of fear. His expression seemed to read 'please don't kill me.' She was beginning to think that she might have been rescued by a group of criminals.

"Lard Nar pissed you off didn't he?" The lanky alien Spleenk questioned, handing her a soda.

"Yeah," she replied staring at the strange looking creature. "He did."

"He's good at making others angry," Fleeb told her relaxing a little now that Miyuki didn't look so aggressive.

"He's got horrible people skills," Spleenk agreed with a nod. "But that's what makes him a good leader."

Fleeb stared at him with one of his eyes narrowed. "That didn't make sense you know that?"

The can of soda made a hissing noise as she popped it open with one of her claws and downed it in an instant. She set the empty can down on the table and wiped her mouth. That was refreshing… she didn't feel nearly so angry anymore.

"Who are you guys anyway?" she asked, and Fleeb looked to Spleenk who stared back with a confused expression.

"You mean Lard Nar didn't tell you?" Spleenk questioned.

"But but…" Shloonktapooxis began rising off the ground with a Resisty member still clinging to his head. "She's Irken!"

"We know!" Fleeb shouted at him, and this made the strange coned shaped alien fall silent, but only for a moment. It wasn't long before he was yelling and hovering back and forth.

"We're the Resisty," Spleenk stated proudly.

"Resisty?"

"Lard Nar thinks it's a stupid name too," Fleeb replied noting the clear look of disbelief the Irken female had.

"Anyway, our goal is to stop the Irken Empire from taking control of anymore planets, and to free the ones that were enslaved by them, but… so far we haven't been able to come up with the numbers or the resources to do very much."

"Why didn't he tell me this?" she asked standing from her chair and placing her hands firmly on the table.

"Lard Nar doesn't like Irkens very much," Spleenk told her. "Actually, I'm surprised he decided to revive you, especially since your pak is fully functional. I mean, one wrong move from any of us and we're all doomed."

"But I don't want to inflinct any doom," Miyuki insisted. She looked around and realized that everyone's eyes were watching her. Her antennae rose a little when she noticed that Lard Nar hadn't followed her inside. Of course she had been angry and probably wouldn't have spoken to him for a while… but still. She wanted to speak with him now about her plans and his plans… maybe they could work together to figure something out.

"Where did Nar go?" she questioned. Fleeb shrugged, but Spleenk was quick to answer in his place.

"He's probably in his room…. He worked three days without sleep to revive you."

"Do you need help finding it?" Fleeb questioned.

Miyuki smiled. "No I'll be fine thank you," she told them before heading out the door and back into the underground hallways. Using the same device she had used earlier, she was able to nevigate her way through the labrynth. Nar hadn't slept in three days trying to bring her back…

Her shoes clacked against the metal tiles. Without the Irken armour that the Tallest were usually given, she was unable to hover. Her antennae lifted when she reached a large silver door. This was it; Lard Nar's room.

She banged her fist against the door. There was no response. The door wasn't very thick, so she probably could hear someone moving on the other side. She waited for a few minutes before trying again. Still nothing.

Miyuki sighed and looked around the dimly lit hallway as she continued to wait. There wasn't that much to look at. Her thoughts travelled over every Irken she could remember from her rule. There had been Purple and Red because they had been the most adorable little Irken trainees she had ever seen, Spork because he was second Tallest only to her, and Zim. Her history with the little destruction machine went further than the time she remembered before getting devoured…

Finally the metal doors slid open and Lard Nar peered out. He wasn't wearing the captain's uniform he had been wearing earlier; instead he was wearing pajamas, and he had also removed his goggles.

"Are you still angry…?" he questioned biting his lip nervously.

"No," Miyuki said brushing past him into the room.

"Are you sure..?"

"Yes I'm sure, now come sit down. We need to talk."

Lard Nar complied, taking a seat on the edge of his bed and Miyuki took a seat beside him. He lowered his head a little and played with his hands nervously. His hands were bare; his gloves were laying on the floor beside his bed where he'd discarded them. Old scars crossed with new ones across his knuckles and along his fingers. Miyuki stares, and Lard Nar lifted his head a little when he realised what she was looking at.

"It isn't easy being an engineer…" he told her softly. "The fresh ones are from working on your pak and fixing the restoration machine."

"And the old ones?"

"I don't want to talk about it…" he growled, ad Miyuki sat up straighter.

"That's fine. I'm not here to talk about the past. Right now we need to figure out something for the present."

Lard Nar nodded in agreement.

"What would you suggest former Tallest Miyuki? You say you don't want to return to Irk, and you also say that you don't want to cause a stir in the Irken Empire… but where does that leave us? We've been unable to do anything for a long time now, but then we found you drifting in space… I thought that by reviving you we could do something…"

"I agree that I must make my existance known to the Empire… but I feel it would be safer if we did this slowly."

"What do you mean?"

"First, we should work on gathering more members for your resistance. As it stands, you guys don't even have the numbers to form your own protest group."

"I guess…"

"Second, you should work on getting a larger spacecraft. My locator detected a small escape pod in your posession, but you're going to need more than that if you hope to leave any kind of impression."

"We lost the Vortian battleship… and I haven't been able to get a hold of another since the invasion suceeded on Vort."

"That's going to be a problem…" Miyuki brought her finger to her chin as she pondered over what to do over their lack of transportation. There weren't too many planets Irk had been allied with during her reign. Actually, there had only been two from what she could remember; Vort and Food Courtia.

"Is Food Courtia a part of the Irken take over?" she questioned.

"No it isn't," Lard nar replied. "Actually… that's where we went after we lost control of our battleship. The planet Jackers isn't involved either. They have an alliance with the Irkens."

"An alliance you say…?" Miyuki couldn't help but smirk at this new information. "Then if an Irken asked them for assistance, they really couldn't decline could they?"

"They might… it's hard to tell. From what my scouts have told me, it seems the Irken Empire hardly ever contacts Jackers… They're always calling Food Courtia though for donuts and other things."

"Red and Purple couldn't know I'm alive," Miyuki reasoned. "That means it's possible to get supplies from both Food Courtia and Jackers if I pose as an Irken messanger for the Massive." She paused.

"Wait… you have scouts?"

"We had scouts," Lard Nar corrected her, averting his gaze.

"They made one small slip up, and the Armada found them…" he sighed and lowered his head into his hands. "There weren't any survivors… we took the escape pod out there to search for them, just in case our communications had been malfunctioning, but there wasn't anything but debris and… other parts."

Miyuki grew silent, as did Lard Nar. When did her people become so barbaric…? They had spent so many years trying to advance themselves further… but they way they were acting now wasn't progress; it was a huge step backwards. They might as well have been primitive beasts tearing each other a part with their claws.

"I've kept you up long enough…" Miyuki decided rising from the bed. "We can talk more tomorrow."

"You won't try to escape will you…?" Lard Nar asked weakly. "You aren't going to return to them and let this keep happening?"

"I'm not going to return to Irk Nar… at least not right now," Miyuki reasured him as she headed towards the door. She stopped, and turned to see that the Vortian was watching her leave with a pained look on his face. Miyuki was their only hope of ever reaturning to their home planets… if she decided to leave, no one would be able to stop her, and they would be left with a crumbling resistance.

He should have never listened to Spleenk! The moron never came up with any good plans, and attacking the Massive head on had been on of the most foolish plans he'd ever heard of. After they were forced to abandon the Vortian Vessel, the spirit within the Resisty fell, and members started to leave. Now only the most loyal remained… a mere dozen of what used to be a good fifty members. He feared that if they lost Miyuki, the Resisty would desolve completely.

"You know as well as I do Irkens don't need sleep," she remarked raising her antennae a little before leaving the room.

Her purple robes dragged across the floor as she walked through the narrow passages. They were only wide enough to fit maybe two aliens side by side, and even then, they'd have to be around the same size as Nar… When she saw a large three headed alin headed her way, her antennae fell. The creature was taking up the whole hallway! It didn't matter how slender she was; there was no way she was going to be able to squeeze by him, so she didn the only other thing she could think of.

The mechanical spider legs extended from her pak and brought her into the air before attaching themselves to the ceiling. The round alien looked puzzeled at first when the Irken "disappeared" from sight. He shrugged his shoulders and continued walking, and Miyuki lowered herself back to the ground after he passed by.

"You are the Irken…." An alien concealed by a purple cloak hissed.

Miyuki had come to a bend in the hallway and had almost run into it…

"You can call me Miyuki," she stated staring down at the foreign looking creature. " I've never seen your kind before…What species are you?"

"Gelst, and my species is…" he chuckled a little. "Well, you don't need to know that… I wouldn't want my planet to be discovered by you horrible Irkens."

Miyuki's antennae flattend and her eyes narrowed a little as she continued to stare at Gelst. The creature continued past her without another word, and she stalked off in the other direction.

"I hope I don't have the pleasure of talking to him again.." she muttered before smacking face first into another alien. She backed up and rubbed her forehead as she looked into the bright green eyes of a green skinned Resisty member. It made some sounds she wasn't familiar with before scurrying away.

She managed to make it to the storage room without running into anyone else. There was an old computer system attached to the wall, and she began pushing buttons. The screen flickered on and made a low droning noise. She used it to access the Resisty's files which was filled with plans to create another battleship, the names and profiles of each Resisty member, and the status reports of the Irken Invasion.

'Peace Treaty Signed Between Irk and Jackers,' appeared in bold letters half way down the page.

'Vort Taken by the Irken Machine, all Inhabitants Inslaved,' was written a few lines below.

With a sigh, Miyuki closed the screen and stood in front of the small escape pod. It looked like it could fit two inside… maybe three. Anyway, it was enough room for her. She could travel to anyplace she wanted in this. There didn't seem to be any security systems in place. All she had to do was take it.

She opened the small door to the cockpit and slid in. It made a buzzing sound as the door slid back into place. She pushed a few buttons and was able to find the one that started the spacecraft. The engines whirled as it slowly lifted off the ground… now she could only hope that it has a voice activation unit so that she didn't have to use any of the controls. It didn't, so she placed her hand on the control stick and moved it testingly with one of her claws.

This wasn't going to earn her any points in the Resisty, she knew, but she doubted that anyone would actually let her take the escape pod if she asked.

The small spacecraft crashed into the walls leaving large dents and shaking the Resisty's base. She was making enough noise to wake Lard Nar, she realized before tugging up on the control stick and flying through the large hole that had appeared in the ceiling. Apparently the hatch in the ceiling opened automatically.

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**Author's Notes: **So there's an angry Irken in the base and what does Lard Nar do? Sleep. Screw this whole defending the base thing eh? Ahh I love it.

The cloaked guy (which some will surely argue with me that it's a girl) No! I refuse! Ehm... Anyway, the cloaked guy wasn't given a name or a personality, but he belongs to Johnen just as much as Lard Nar and Miyuki, who wasn't given a personality or an appearance in the show.

None of the characters belong to me! Eh.. well Fleeb technically wasn't on the show at all, and I guess I did kind of make him up. He's my OC! OMG, but his species, planet ect are not mine. My disclaimer fell down here... yup.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes:** I will not write about my Europe trip here. I'm serious! I won't do it… Ok, it rained a lot and there was thunder in Rome. Yeaah… but that's all I'm going to say!

So what's up with the lack of action in this fic anyway? Well basically, the Resisty isn't in any position to do any kind of action, so they're stuck! This is them being stuck. Yup. I don't think they could get anymore stuck than this.

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**When Two Irkens Meet**

The tremeors that had shaken the Resisty's base startled Lard Nar awake. He leapt out of bed and got dressed quickly before running out the door to see what was going on. He had just finished pulling on his gloves when he reach the end of the hallway.

All of the Resisty members had gathered outside the storage room. Lard Nar was forced to push past them, which wasn't too difficult considering he was fairly small and able to squeeze through quite easily. The room was in shambles, debris from broken walls covered the floor, and it was obvious what the cause had been. The escape pod had been stolen! He turned and noticed that the computer was on. Miyuki had closed the page, but Lard Nar was able to bring it up again.

"The Irken took our ship!" Shloonktapooxis exclaimed. He stuck his tongue out and stared up at the ceiling.

"I noticed," Lard Nar spat.

"You should have known better than to trust one of them," Gelst hissed. "Some leader you turned out to be…"

Lard Nar hung his head while Spleenk and Shloonktapooxis both stepped in and began yelling at Gelst.

"Enough!" Lard Nar shouted. "It's over… she has seen our files. She knows the name and appearance of every Resisty member here."

"We're doomed aaaah!" Shloonktapooxis screamed floating around and around in a circle of panic.

Some of the other Resisty membered had also begun to yell in dismay. Many of them left the room and began running down the halls. Only Spleenk, Fleeb, Lard Nar and Gelst remained gazing hopelessly around them as though they hoped to find an answer to their problems written on the wall.

Fleeb blinked when his eyes caught sight of something bright red. The computer's screen was flashing.

"Uhh… Lard Nar? The computer… someone is making contact with us."

"It's probably the Irken," Gelst mused. "No doubt she's going to taunt us for being so foolish."

A picture of Miyuki's face appeared on the monitor. They couldn't tell where she was since the picture was so small, but she seemed to be some place busy. There were buzzing sounds of hover vehicles as well as a lot of talking and yelling noice in the background.

She licked an icecream cone she had bought and gave her antennae a flick when a particularly loud child screamed from somewhere nearby, unhappy that he didn't get the donuts he wanted.

"You look angry," she noted. "I guess you found the mess I made… I've never flown a ship before, and I didn't really know how sensitive the control stick was until I crashed into the wall… twice."

"You hacked into our files and stole our only remaining escape pod!" Lard Nar shouted, and Miyuki's antennae fell as she gave him a puzzeled look.

"But… I didn't hack into anything. The files weren't even locked."

Lard Nar smacked his forehead and turned angrily to Spleenk who grinned innocently and shrugged.

"I did steal the escape pod though," Miyuki admitted before taking another lick of her icecream cone.

"You should install a security system in there."

"Are you going to gloat before handing us over to the Irken Empire?" Lard Nar questioned; his eyes were filled with anger, and this concealed any kind of fear that he might have been feeling.

"No," Miyuki said narrowing one of her eyes. "I just called to let you know I'm on Food Courtia… which is only like a five minute flight from your base… where else did you think I'd be?"

"What are you doing over there?" Spleenk asked leaning in close to the computer screen.

"I'm buying a few things," she replied glancing over her shoulder at something interesting occuring in the street. There seemed to be a fight of some kind, but the crowed was too large for her to see clearly.

"Do any of you want anything to eat?"

"Ooo! Ooo!" Spleenk jumped up and down excitedly. "Could you get some of those candies with the green stuff in the middle!? I can't remember what they're called, but they're awesome!"

"I guess the Foodening is over?" Fleeb questioned in confusion. Didn't it usually last for twenty years? The only reason the Resisty left that planet was because of the Foodening.

"Time passes quicker here than it does anywhere else," Miyuki responded. She remembered the Foodening from when she was the Tallest. During that time she had made contact with the Fry Lord after making and agreement with the leaders of Vort that would let him sell 'Vort dogs.'

Suddenly the screen began to flicker in and out. Something was interfering with the signal.

"Sorry, I've got to go. I'll be back soon."

The monitor went black, and Lard Nar turned to Spleenk who was grinning happily as thoughts of candies spun through his head.

"Do you really think she's going to come back?" Lard Nar questioned him.

Spleenk shrugged. "Why wouldn't she? We haven't given her a reason not to… well uh… most of us haven't anyway."

"I thought plotting the downfall of her people would be a good enough reason…" Lard Nar reminded him.

"Oh yeah…" Spleenk said scratching his head.

The parking lot where Miyuki had landed earlier was bustling with spacecrafts flying in and landing. It was a never ending cycle… She went to one of the small gift shops that sold a variety of things and found the candies Spleenk had mentioned. She also bought a black outfit which consisted of stretchy pants, gloves, a tight fitting top with flat soled shoes. This would make moving around a lot less awkward.

It was difficult trying to put a shirt on with her pak, so she was forced to take it off for a few minutes. Her PAK had been attached to her for years, yet it disconnected easily.

After that, she bought a can of soda and continued to shop. She found that wearing something so tight attracted some unwanted attention, so she bought a dusky looking cloak to wear over top at a different convenient store before going to stand in line at Shloogorgh's Flavour Monster. If she remembered correctly, this fast food place was run by Irkens.

She pulled down her hood when she made it to the counter, hiding her face. The small Irken at the till spoke loudly, "Welcome to Shloooogorgh's! May I take your order!?"

"Can I order something to go?" she questioned and Gashloog nodded.

"Sure you can! What will it be!?"

She looked up at the menu. Good. Most of the items they were selling hadn't changed, though the prices seemed to have gotten more expensive. The last time she had been able to check the prices, a medium-sized taquito was only twelve monies. Now it had risen to seventeen. She only had a hundred and fifty monies left from her splurg. There was a deal going on now though, buy two large taquitos and get one free.

Sixteen taquitos and a jumbafied bucket of fries later, most of her monies were gone.

"Will you be able to carry all of that?" Gashloog questioned from behind the counter. Miyuki was doing her best to balance all the bags in her arms. The line was small; it hadn't been a very busy day for Shloogorgh's, so Gashloog offered to help her carry some of the bags. Miyuki didn't even realize that her hood was about to slip off until it was too late… not that she could have fixed it with her arms full anyway.

Gashloog gasped as he stared wide-eyed at the tall Irken female… she was tall enough to be the Tallest, but that was impossible. A few awkward moments passed, and Miyuki's antennae fell as she continued to balance everything in her arms.

A booming voice sounded from the kitchens in the back, "Gashloog! What are you doing!?"

"Fry Lord… there's an Irken and…"

"We get Irken customers too Gashloog! Now get back to work!"

"But… but she's tall!"

Sizz-lor lept from the kitchen and landed next to Gashloog who was still gawking. The Fry Lord was wearing his white apron and chief's hat, and his expression was very serious. He always took his job very seriously.

"You're an idiot Gashloog!" He roared smacking his employee in the head before grabbing a few of Miyuki's bags.

"Sorry about that," he told Miyuki who blinked as she looked from right to left. Everyone in the restaurant was watching them.

"Good help is getting harder and harder to find these days," he turned to Gashloog who cringed under the Fry Lord's angry glare.

"Get back to the cash-register and take care of these customers! I'm going to help this woman with her things."

Miyuki didn't know what to say, and Sizz-lor had fallen into silece. It was only when they had nearly reached the parking lot that he finally spoke up.

"I didn't expect I'd ever see you again Tallest Miyuki."

Oh crap. Oh crap. Miyuki wanted to bolt, but she couldn't while she was carrying the food. Out of all the Irkens who didn't know or didn't care about the former Tallests, she had to find one that not only recognized her, but knew her name as well.

"You don't recognize me do you?" he asked, and Miyuki shook her head no.

He laughed. "Well my appearance had changed a lot since the last time you saw me… and we didn't get much of a chance to talk inside the blob monster."

"What…?" Miyuki questioned; her eyes widening. Who else had been eaten by the Infinite Energy Absorbing Monster?

"I changed my name… it used to be Spork. I was the second Tallest during your reign and the Tallest after you."

"But you're not really that tall…" her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said was an insult. She raised her hands up in a defensive manner. "No offense."

"None taken," Sizz-lor replied with a laugh. "You'll be amazed what working at a fast-food restaurant will do to you. I'm glad to see you made it out as well… you aren't planning on returning as Tallest are you?"

"Why didn't you become the Tallest again when you escaped?"

"Oh that?" he scratched his head. "Well… I broke out of the blob monster near Food Courtia, and the gravitational pull of the Foodening pulled me in and trapped me here. I thought I might as well do something while I was here… the Fry Lord had escaped the planet before the Foodening leaving only service drones… I introduced myself as Sizz-lor and told them I was going to be their new Fry Lord. No one argued with me because of my height, and so I stayed here for twenty years. After that, my body became more robust, and I shrank a couple of inches. There must be something strange in the food … but living on this planet, you don't really have much of a choice but to eat it everyday. Now I'm too short to be the Tallest anymore."

"You don't seem upset by that."

"Nah… I like my job well enough. I even managed to get a bit of revenge on Zim for making that stupid monster of his…" his eyes narrowed a little as he continued to speak. "I won't tell anyone about you if that's what you want. Things are different now. We no longer have much of a connection to Irk."

"Thank you," Miyuki said letting out a sigh. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath. "I don't exactly want the Tallest knowing I'm alive just yet…"

"Them? Ha." Sizz-lor said in a mocking tone. "I wouldn't call them Tallest."

"Do you mean about the invasions? You don't agree with it?"

"It's not so much the invasions as it is them… their personalities are infuriating! They think they can do what ever they want without conscequence, but if you ask me, they're going to be the fall of the Irken Empire."

Miyuki stopped when she reached the "borrowed" escape pod, and Sizz-lor studied her for a moment before opening the space vehicle and putting the bags he'd been carrying inside.

"I remember when you were in power Miyuki… you took your position very seriously. You worried more about our advancements on Irk than anyone else I've ever known. If I'd have a chance to name the next Tallest, I'd name you."

"Thanks Spork, that means a lot," Miyuki replied placing her bags down on the floor beside the pilot seat.

"Sizz-lor," he corrected her. "I'm not Spork anymore."

He paused and looked up at the sky for a moment before looking back at her.

"If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'd follow your commands over our Tallest's any day."

"Be careful," Miyuki said with a smiled, and she lept into the space ship. Her eyes fell on him as the canopy lowered over top of her. "I might hold you up to that."

Sizz-lor watched as Miyuki's flew the small space ship from the planet before letting out a sigh and removing his hat. He held it in front of him, and stared at it for a while. He had made so many memories on this planet… A part of him hoped that Miyuki would be as fortunate as him and find her place in the universe, yet another side wished that she had never escaped. It was a selfish feeling he knew… With Miyuki back, everything could change again, and he wasn't sure that he wanted any more change.

* * *

**More notes:** Spork, Sizzlor, eh? Eh? Get it? They're both named after food-ish type things… well it made sense in my mind anyway, so I made them one Irken.

Origionally this fic was going to be called something completely different and "Spork" was going to be given a larger role. It didn't really work out that way. Ah well, but at least I didn't leave people guessing about the location of former Tallest Spork. I mean, if Miyuki got out, then he should have too right?

And about the horrible spelling errors, can you believe that Microsoft Word decided to crap out and stop fixing my spelling errors early on in the fic? It's crazy! How could this happen? Technology hates me. Yeah that's right. My computer actually decided to go nuts just a little while ago. It was horrible with the flashing white screen and ctrl Alt delete wouldn't work so I had to shut the stupid thing down.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: My updates are becoming spuratic

**Author's Notes: **My updates are becoming spuratic! Maybe I've been drawing too much recently… and I already started writing two more IZ fanfics. I will start posting them when they're complete.

I once had a Deviant Art account. One of my friends made me create an account on there, but I've never used it. I have so many IZ doodles too. Maybe I will rediscover my account there one day; it would embarrass the Irken Vortian and Human race you can be assured.

**Lard Nar's Broken Trust**

There had been no Armada; no chaos or explosions upon Miyuki's return. In fact, everything had been very uneventful. She had landed in the storage room and exited the veihicle, offering the toquitos and fries she'd bought as a peace offering. She had given Spleenk the candies he'd asked for, much to his delight, before retiring to the provisions room to think about her next course of action.

Lard Nar didn't have much of an appitite. He was still worrying over everything that had happened… Did Miyuki do something to the escape pod? He would have to do a full system's check later. For now, he desided to question the Irken, arming himself with a small laser gun before entering the room she was in. He kept the weapon concealed, feeling safer that it was there.

The door slid open, and Miyuki stopped pacing and turned to see who'd come in.

"Oh, Nar, can I help you with something?" she asked.

"What are your plans Irken…?" he questioned her. There was an edge in his voice, and Miyuki's antennae rose a little when she heard this.

"You're still upset about me stealing your ship aren't you?"

"I'm in no mood for games, so just answer the question!" he demanded.

She folded her arms across her chest and flattened her antennae. What was his problem…? Ok… so she took the escape pod without asking, but it's not like she blew anything up with it. Besides, she had returned it relativily intact…

"You need to calm down…" she stated simply, turning her back to him. "I'm not going to talk to you while you're like this."

"You're not going to…" he repeated in confusion. When he realized what she had said, he only became more angry. She was treating him like a child! She had been looking down at him since the beginning, because he was short! Irkens and their stupid heirarchy… it made him sick.

Miyuki didn't know what to think when she noticed that the Vortian was carrying a laser gun. Her eyes had picked out its shiny metal. Lard Nar was acting very childish. She began looking over the boxes which were stacked on top of each other. Each of them was filled with candy bars; she brushed her hand over one then glanced up at the ceiling… It was really difficult to ignore someone who kept staring at you.

"Tell me why you took our ship then!"

"No."

"I swear Irken, I'm not playing around!"

"Maybe I'd believe you if you weren't carrying that toy,"she gestured to the gun he kept at his side. It was partially concealed by his belt, but not enough for it to escape detection.

"You Irkens are always carrying "toys!" he spat. "Why should I let down my guard for you!?"

He took it in his hand, and Miyuki's eyes narrowed as her antennae flattened defensively against her head.

"If you don't put that down…" she began.

"Force me to put it down Irken scum!" Lard Nar inturrupted firing a few rounds at her head. Bright blue lasers flashed towards Miyuki, and she reacted as any Irken would have. Her mechanical legs sprung from her back, launching her clear of the fire. Now clinging to the wall, the machinary threw her forward, and she landed on top of Nar with one hand of the gun. They wrestled for it, but Miyuki had the size advantage; she was stronger than the small Vortian could ever hope to be. Her claws tore at the fabric of his gloves. Her mechanical legs that had come from her pak withdrew when she had finally got possession of the device.

She stood, crushed the gun with her long nails, then took a few steps back to allow Lard Nar up. That wasn't something she'd been expecting… out of all the Resisty members she had come across, she had thought that Lard Nar was the most reasonable… He slowly got to his feet, looking as defeated as ever.

A few awkward moments passed, and Lard Nar finally sighed and sat down in a chair. He looked at his gloved hands, tattered and bleeding, before resing them on the table.

Miyuki sat across from him, her purple eyes blinking once, then twice as she began pondering what she should say. What were her plans? How could she answer that question when she didn't even know what her plans were?

"I uh… might have made a friend on Food Courtia," Miyuki began, and Lard Nar raised his head a little.

"Oh..? Who was it?"

"Sizz-lor," Miyuki replied. "He's the Fry Lord at Shloogorgh's."

"He's Irken…" Lard Nar said eyeing her sceptically. "Did he recognize you?"

"Right away," she admitted running her fingers through her antennae. "I don't think he'll say anything though."

"I see…"

"Other than that, I bought myself some new clothes; ones that won't make me look so Tallest-like."

"A cloak?"

"There's more than just the cloak, Nar," Miyuki said. "Anyway… I was thinking about going public with the Resisty, does that sound alright?"

Lard Nar frowned. "We've always been public."

"No, I mean the get-in-your-face kind of public," she replied casually waving her hand a little in a mindless motion.

"To put it simply, I want to make the public aware that if they aren't a part of the solution; they're a part of the problem."

"That sounds very…"

"Irken? I know," she answered with a smile. "If you want more support Nar, you're going to have to be more assertive. You can't just ask nicely and hope that others will join you. We need to show them that the Resisty is a force to be reckoned with then pressure them into joining."

"That is very Irken…" Lard Nar stated unhappily. He continued to look down at the table, biting his lip as he mused over Miyuki's suggestion.

"It's also affective," Miyuki replied with a shrug. "This is only my idea though; it's not a sure thing. I can see my plan is making you a little uncomfortable. Maybe you could talk it over with some of the other Resisty members after we figure out a way to get ourselves another battleship. For this, we are going to have to establish a communication link with planet Jackers."

"You've been scheming this whole time haven't you?"

"Almost," Miyuki admitted. "Let me talk to the inhabitants of Jackers. I'll get them to give us some supplies in the name of the Irken Armada and the Mighty Tallest." She changed her voice for the last part, mocking, to show that Red and Purple's title wasn't an issue with her. She straightened her back and watched Lard Nar for a moment. He was keeping his eyes lowered.

"Why did you attack me Nar?" she questioned. "You rescued me; you told me your plans… why did you suddenly want to kill me?"

He was silent. Should he tell her the truth...? Would doing so make him weak…? He didn't know any more.

"I…" Lard Nar hesitated and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. "I was frightened… you frightened me Miyuki. I kept trying to remind myself that you were once Tallest Miyuki; a generous ruler… but when I think of the Tallest now, all I see is THEIR faces…then when you stole the ship, I thought for sure we were all dead."

"You know I wouldn't do that…" she whispered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Of course she knew that the Vortian didn't trust her, but to believe that she would be the cause of his death, and the death of the Resisty…

"No Miyuki," he answered shaking his head slowly. "I don't… I don't know what you would and wouldn't do. I've seen what Irkens are capable of."

"You're bleeding all over the table," Miyuki noted.

"Am I?"

"Yes, you should put some bandages on those cuts."

"We're out of bandages…" he said; his voice waning. Three days without sleep, and he had used up all his energy battling over the laser gun. He wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

The sound of tearing brought Lard Nar back from the brink of sleep. His eyes widened when Miyuki took one of his injured hands, removed the tattered remains of his glove, and began wrapping it with some kind of fabric. He fearfully tried to pull away, but her grip was firm. She bandaged his other hand before lifting the small Vortian from his chair.

Lard Nar made a startled noise when he realized that he was in the Irken's arms.

"P-Put me down…" he stammered.

She didn't listen.

Miyuki entered the hallway carrying Lard Nar. It must have been late, because no one else was in the twisted labyrinth of passage ways. There were, however, wrappers and the left over jumbo sized bucket; remnants of the food the Resisty members had eaten earlier. The Vortian began to struggle, but even as he tried to free himself he knew it was pointless. Her hold on him was strong, and he was too small (not to mention exhausted) to put up much of a fight.

Spleenk was snoring when Miyuki entered Lard Nar's quarters. He was buried under a mound of blankets and pillows, yet his snores still echoed loudly.

Nothing would be able to wake him up, Lard Nar knew, yet Miyuki's step was nearly silent. She placed the Vortian on the bed, and right away his mind began racing. What did she plan to do with him? She had complete control of the situation; all of the other Resisty members were sleeping. The laser gun incident weighed heavily in his mind. It wouldn't be difficult for her to kill him now or…

His eyes widened when he saw her hands reaching for his goggles. He turned away and curled into a little ball, trembling.

"Please leave," he whispered. The idea of an Irken removing any article of his clothing frightened him very badly.

"Do you have the energy to do it yourself?" she asked in a softer voice. Spleenk muttered something in his sleep and the pile of blankets shifted a little before the snoring began again.

When Lard Nar didn't answer or raise a hand to remove his goggles, she reached for them again. This time the Vortian didn't stop her. She placed his goggles on the nightstand beside his bed as he continued to tremble.

He closed his eyes when he realized that she wasn't finished with him. "Why are you doing this..?" he asked her weakly; her hands undoing the clasp which kept his uniform bound tightly around his neck. Images flashed into his mind and he tried covering his head as he willed them to leave. His clothing was looser now… and there was an Irken towering over him. He hadn't felt this helpless in a long time, and before he could stop himself, tears started to fall.

Miyuki seated herself on the bed and gently rested her hand on his arm. "Why did I carry you to your bed? Is that what you're asking Nar…?" She asked him, and the Vortian nodded.

"Because you're tired, and I disrupted your sleep earlier didn't I?" She paused. The Vortian's body was still shivering beneath her claws. Something was very wrong, and she knew it was because of her, because she was Irken.

"Well I better go wander the hallways now," she stated as she rose from the bed. "I promise I won't touch the escape pod for a while, but I won't promise you anything about the computer."

She wouldn't contact Jackers until Lard Nar was ready, but the computer could still be used to access different information.

It turns out that the computer they had wouldn't be able to make long distance calls anyway… it wasn't powerful enough. She would have tampered with it except that she knew she was no good with machines. The last thing she needed was for the stupid thing to explode with her trying to work it. That would get her thrown out the air lock… or was that a strictly Irken punishment?

After a few hours of going through Food Courtia's information banks, she got bored and returned to Lard Nar's room.

He was sleeping by now, all sprawled out on the bed making much softer snoring noises than Spleek was making. Miyuki smiled. Lard Nar seemed much happier when he was sleeping. Maybe one day he would tell her something, but right now she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to push him.

Miyuki remained in the room, watching the pile of blankets move as Spleenk tossed and turned underneath, and Lard Nar as he slept with hardly any movement at all. Sometimes she wondered what it was like to need to restore your energy this way… it seemed nice.

The Irken in her disagreed. To regain energy in such a manner would leave you open for an attack. It would be the perfect time for the enemy to strike.

No one would get away with attacking the Resisty's base so long as she was awake and ready to defend it, she decided. If an enemy entered this place, she would dispose of him quickly. Oh great… now she was starting to picture her own people as the enemy. When she though of the word 'enemy,' she thought of an Irken. She looked down at her hands… but she was Irken.

After having a small identity crises, she looked around the room and thought about how she was going to spend the next few hours… most creatures only needed about seven or eight hours of sleep right?

The Resisty definitely wasn't very well organized she thought as she climbed on top of the pile of blankets and lay looking up at the ceiling. It was kind of fun because every time Spleenk tossed and turned, the blankets would move and she would end up moving with them. It was kind of like a ride… sort of.

Anyway, there should always be someone guarding the base whether it was a complex security system or an armed guard. If she had simply left in the escape pod again, there would be no one to keep watch. Their base was camouflaged pretty well, but nothing could beat a good security system.

_I'll definitely have to bother Nar about it tomorrow… _She thought to herself.

**More Notes:** Ha, I made Miyuki very skilled in the art of self-preservation! (joking of course) What do you do when someone tries to kill you and there's a little bit of awkwardness after? Change the subject. Don't actually do this ok? If someone tries to kill you, call 911, and remember, if you happen to beat up your attacker before the police arrive, it was still in self defence. Don't listen to there 'but you punched him several times' dookie. They just want you to change your story and get YOU with a charge of assault instead!

Also, it's better to have a witness who is on your side and will vouch for everything you say.

By the way, if you have any questions about anything in this fic, please feel free to ask. I don't mind fixing plot holes. Eveniftheficisdonealready. I have so many things rotting away in my documents right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes/Disclaimer: **I don't own IZ or its amazing characters.

You know what? I dislike rain. I really do. That's why I was happy there was sun out today. That's why I'm updating this fic. If I'm happy, updates happen. xD

* * *

**Limited Knowledge**

Spleenk threw off his blankets when he woke and stretched his arms over his head. There was a thump when the blankets hit the floor, louder than usual, and the Resisty member blinked when Miyuki emerged from the pile. Spleenk had woken up very quickly, so she didn't have time to move before he sprung to life.

"Miyuki?" he questioned wide-eyed. "What are you doing in there?" he gasped and looked away appearing rather embarrassed. "Were you in my bed…?"

"Um… I guess so?" she answered brushing herself off. She was glad when Spleenk didn't ask why. His hand came to his face and he shook his head wondering…

Maybe the next time she was bored, she would find something more productive to do. Why were other races so squeamish about sharing their bed anyway? Irkens didn't need sleep, so Miyuki didn't know the reasoning behind it. Maybe she would ask him later when he didn't seem so awkward.

"I am angry at your computer's range capabilities," she stated lowering her antennae.

"Oh… why? What's wrong with its range?"

"It has none."

One of Spleenk's eyes closed as he thought about what she'd said. "Yeah, that's right! Lard Nar was complaining about that a few days ago. He's tried fixing it before, but we don't have the right tools or something."

Sometimes he thought that the large shiny computer they kept in the storage room was meant for show more than for actual information retrieval or communication. It's the reason he hadn't gotten around to locking any of the files on there.

"Oh well, let's go see if anyone else is awake yet," Spleenk suggested as he headed for the door. "The captain will probably be sleeping for a long time, and I've got to keep my eye on Gelst. He's trouble if you ask me."

Miyuki chuckled. "You call him trouble? What about the Irken who stole your ship?"

"Nah, we all take it out every once and a while," Spleenk admitted, and he pressed a finger to his mouth. "Don't tell Lard Nar though… he's only caught a few of us doing it."

Before he set foot n the hallway, he turned back to Miyuki with a smile plastered on his face. "You'd be surprised how many of us don't mind that you're here actually." He paused and scratched the back of his head. "I trust you over Gelst anyway. He's been trying to get us to follow him over Lard Nar for a while now… the captain doesn't say anything, but he knows about it. I guess it's because our numbers are so low already."

The door slid shut, leaving Miyuki alone with Lard Nar who was still sleeping peacefully. Gelst huh? She didn't like that Resisty member very much, and she was pleased to learn that Spleenk didn't either. Hopefully Spleenk would be able to keep Gelst out of trouble, but if something ever did occur, a shift of power… she shook her head. That wouldn't happen, not as long as she was here supporting Lard Nar.

Distress within one's own group was not a common occurrence for Irkens. Everyone was programmed to obey the Tallest who were programmed to obey the Control Brains. If a taller Irken asked a shorter Irken to do something, the shorter one did it without question. That's how it had always been. No Irken could kill his leader. (With the exception of Zim it seemed) They would be deleted from existence if they dared, but they wouldn't because it was impossible to intentionally kill their Tallest.

Even though she was an Irken herself, she sometimes found Irken logic rather strange. It made sense though, but the choice to disagree with your leader… well, one could disagree but to do something about it was unthinkable. She was a Tallest herself though, and if a Tallest disagreed with another Tallest… but there had only ever been one Tallest at a time.

"I'm thinking in circles," she told herself, and her antennae perked up when she heard a noise outside the door. She pressed her head against the smooth metal and raised her antennae to listen. One of the voices belonged to Spleenk. There were two other voices as well; she recognized one being Gelst's but the other was unfamiliar. It was a Resisty member she hadn't spoken to before.

Why weren't these walls sound proof? That was another thing she was going to have to bring up later…

"I'm not going to let you wake up the captain for something that stupid!" Spleenk shouted. He sounded very close… was he blocking the door?

"Stupid? That Irken female needs to be punished for such blatant use of our technology!" Gelst's voice echoed into the room. "She should be our prisoner, and yet Lard Nar lets her run around as though she owns the place!"

"Lard Nar never said she was our prisoner!" Spleenk argued. "Go wake Shloonktapooxis if you want to talk to someone about it! He's basically the second in command."

"The second in command!" Gelst laughed. "That floating purple pansy!?"

"He's stupid," Gelst's accomplise piped in. Obviously the creature who said that wasn't very bright himself.

The voices were getting closer. Miyuki's pak responded, and with a few clicks, the mechanical legs appeared and she used them to leap up to the ceiling. There was a joke that the Vortians used to say about Irkens; how they were basically machines themselves and that soon there would be no difference between an Irken robot and an Irken. If that were true, then Miyuki could be the security system in the Resisty's base. It was a funny idea, but when you don't sleep and you've got nothing else to do…

Spleenk yelped as he was thrown aside by Gelst and his companion. The doors opened, and Miyuki looked down at them curiously. Maybe she would wait for a while to see what would happen.

"Lard Nar," Gelst shouted grabbing the Vortian by the shoulder's and forcing him to sit.

Surprised, Lard Nar's eyes flew open. He stared at Gelst, then realizing who it was, groaned and held his head.

"What do you want THIS TIME Gelst?" he questioned. It sounded like Gelst bothering Lard Nar wasn't a rare occurance…

"It's about the Irken."

"What did she do now?"

Miyuki's antennae twitched. Thanks for the confidence Nar…

"You're letting her run loose! That's the problem!"

Lard Nar raised an invisible brow at the cloaked Resisty member. "Feel free to imprison her at any time, but I won't recommend even trying since she just so happens to be a horrible killing machine, but if her presence bothers you so badly…" he flung himself back down on the bed and covered his head with a pillow. "Go away now. I'm not done sleeping yet…" were his next set of words muffled by the pillow.

Horrible killing machine? Would that be considered a compliment or an insult on Irk? Miyuki couldn't remember. She had nearly stepped in to defend him too. Now with the "killing machine" description she'd been given, she wasn't so sure she wanted to help him anymore.

Maybe a little more observing was in order.

Gelst was visibly trembling in rage. He reached undeneath the pillow and grabbed Lard Nar by his collar while Spleenk watched timidly from the doorway.

"Listen to me 'Lard Nar'…" Gelst spat. He didn't like being made a fool. The Resisty member who had come to back him up stood silently by his side. It was round with green stripes and a large mouth. Miyuki's purple eyes narrowed at the strange creature as it continued to grin. It had been grinning the whole time.

"We're supposed to be fighting the Irkens, not catering to them!" Gelst continued his verbal attack on the Resisty's leader.

"I'm the last one you need to be telling that too… now let go of me," Lard Nar demanded. He was getting fairly annoyed at Gelst by this point… if there weren't so few members left, he would have kicked Gelst out… but he couldn't, not with their numbers as low as they were.

"Actually… I think you're the first one that needs to be reminded of that, Vortian."

"Leave Gelst! I mean it!" the leader of the Resisty snapped.

The creature who had his entire body hidden wasn't going to listen, the Vortian realized as he gripped the arm that helf him by the front of his outfit. Imidiatly he felt the sting of his shredded hands and he cringed. Gelst didn't care, nor did he take any notice in his leader's blood soaked bandages.

"We're stuck here because of you…" he hissed forcing Lard Nar to stare into the two small glowing slits that were his eyes.

"If you really want us to survive, you would give up your position…" he grinned menacingly. "You know, the only reason why we followed you in the first place was because you had that Vortian battle ship. Now that it's gone, it won't be long before every one leaves… maybe another Resistance will pop up somewhere, maybe not."

Lard Nar's eyes widened; he seemed visibly shaken by what Gelst had said. Spleenk wanted to shout that it wasn't true… only he couldn't because it kind of was true. He had seen the battle ship, thought it was neat, and joined the crew within the hour. Spleenk didn't regret it though. How could he? During that time he had gotten to know Lard Nar, and they became some what friends over that time.

Miyuki realized that it was time to act, but she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do… should she blast Gelst with the lasers on the end of her metal spider-legs, jump down and return the verbal beating he had given Lard Nar, or freak him out completely by landing right on top of him?

Click click, metal crawling along metal. Gelst didn't recognize the sound the same way Lard Nar did. Their eyes turned to the ceiling, but before Gelst had time to react… the Irken dropped down and landed right on top of him; the sharp ends of the mechanical legs held him down so that he was unable to move. He let out a frightened gasp and struggled to get free, while Miyuki glared angrily at the smaller creature, though he wasn't quite as small as Lard Nar she realized.

"Didn't Spleenk tell you this room was off limits?" she questioned; her antennae fell forward as she smiled down at the immobile creature.

Spleenk scrambled over to her while Gelst's companion did the exact opposite and fled the room.

"How long have you been in here!?" Gelst demanded angrily as he continued to struggle against her mehcanical legs.

"You have been under my servaillence for the last 6.245 minutes," she stated.

"You were spying on us the entire time!?"

"Well, yes," she admitted. "But that's only because I detected that you could be a possible threat."

"Me a threat!?"

"Yes, first by the tone of your voice out in the hallway, then by the physical persuasion and verbal threats you used in here."

"He was getting kind of scary," Spleenk agreed nodding.

"Let him go Miyuki," Lard Nar said forcing himself to sound firm. In reality, he was trying desperately to recover from his shriek of terror and the falling off the bed that had occurred when Miyuki had 'attacked' Gelst. Lard Nar had been released from the Resisty member's clutches almost instantly, but when he saw the deadly mechanical legs so close, he'd freaked out. Luckily for him, Gelst had been too preoccupied to notice this.

With a sigh, she recalled her threatening mechanisms, and they disappeared into her pak.

"Fine, but I'm still escorting him off the premises," she stated grabbing Gelst by the hood of his cloak which surprisingly hadn't fallen off. To her, 'escorting' meant dragging him over to the door, which obediently slid open, and shoving him out into the hallway.

"I'm sorry Lard Nar," Spleenk spoke, though he sounded a little unsure in himself. "I tried to keep him out… honest."

"That's fine," Lard Nar replied crawling back onto his bed. He turned to Miyuki who was watching him curiously now.

"What did I tell you about those mechanical legs?" he asked her.

"Don't use them because they freak you out?" she questioned.

He paused and gave her a questioning look. "Did you see that…?"

"I did.."

Lard Nar cleared his throat and turned away slightly embarassed.

"So… what should the horrible killing machine do with her spare time now?" she asked, and the Vortian flinched.

"You're not that bad Miyuki," Spleenk told her with a rueful smile.

"Sorry," Lard Nar said abrupty before falling back onto his pillow. "Old habits… I'm still not used to having an Irken running around the base spying on us."

"Hey, I was openly spying on you," she stated gesturing up at the ceiling. "All you had to do was look up. I was right there… like a security camra, which reminds me, you really do need to install some kind of security system."

"We don't have the materials for that."

"Hey, that could be something you could do," Spleenk said excitedly as though he had come up with some kind of horrible horrible plan. Nothing that came from him ever turned out right…

"You could be the security Miyuki!"

"Absolutely not!" Lard Nar interjected.

"Why? She seems good at it," Spleenk stated with a grin.

"I better not," Miyuki rejoined putter her hands up defensively. " I mean, it's a fun idea, but Irk doesn't have any training for such a thing because we have security droids. I would have no idea what I was doing."

"Oh well," Spleenk shrugged all four shoulders. "It was worth a try."

Miyuki laughed and shook her head.

"Spleenk, leave," Lard Nar suddenly instructed, and the Resisty member quickly did as he was told without question.The metal door slid shut and came together with the wall again.

"Do you want to talk to me about something Nar?" She asked him curiously.

He nodded as he continued staring up at the ceiling.

"Great. That'll give me time to do this."

Before Lard Nar could protest, she took his hand and began unwrapping the bloodied bandages.

"Those scratches are closing up nicely, but I think I should bandage them up again anyway."

He remained silent until both of his hands lay naked in the dim light; the deep scars clearly visible. Miyuki had begun to tear two more strips out of her cloak to wrap them up again when Lard Nar spoke.

"Were you in my room last night…?" he asked.

"Yes I was," she replied.

"All night?"

"Pretty much… I left for maybe two hours to test your computer, which I found to be a pretty useless machine."

"Did you… do anything?" he asked quietly. "In here I mean…?"

"Not really," she admitted returning to the bed with her makeshift bandages.

"I stood around, thought way too much about very little, and then climbed on top of Spleenk's mound of blankets and stayed there until morning," she took one of Lard Nar's hands, and he surrendered it to her without a struggle.

"Apparently I was suppose to move before he regained consciousness because he flung me off the bed in some kind of strange awakening ritual. Then when he realized where I had been, he got flustered. Am I supposed to understand something? I mean, you are in some kind of strange energy restoration state... I recognize that you are fairly open to penitration…"

"What!?" Lard Nar questioned yanking his hand away from her.

"I said, I recognize that you are fairly open to enemy attack, but if I hadn't been there when his body was reactivated, he wouldn't have known I was there at all… so, I guess I don't understand why there is a reason for only one unit per bed. Wouldn't it make more sense to have more units to a bed? It would save space."

"It doesn't make sense that way."

"Really… how about tanks then? Small ones."

"I don't understand where you're going with this Miyuki… but its obvious to me that you don't understand the significance of sharing a bed. It's an act of trust, and more importantly, one of love if you allow someone from the opposite gender to 'restore energy' next to you."

"Love? I've heard of that before. Is that what it means? That's kind of strange if you ask me, but I guess it makes sense that Spleenk would react that way then… but I wasn't restoring my energy. I don't have to, so it can't really be considered love then since I wasn't doing it."

"This is starting to sound wrong to me…" Lard Nar spoke bringing his bandaged hand to his face. "Let's forget about this… just don't do it again…"

"But I wasn't even disrupting the restoration process," Miyuki argued as she took Lard Nar's exposed hand and began to wrap the fabric around it.

"If you must know everything about it, then ask Spleenk to tell you…"

"I think I will," she said as she finished with the last bandage. "You should probably get some more sleep then, if you're still tired. I promise I'll stay out of your room this time."

* * *

**More Notes: **Is that romance? Am I writing romance? Can't tell? Yup. That's my way of doing romance alright. You kind of have to squint to see it… you must squint more than that.

Will it get more obvious? In later chapters probably, but right now feel free to enjoy the Resisty as they resist… erm… well they're existing anyway. That's pretty good. Not everyone can exist properly. Yeah. I'll go with that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes****/Disclaimer: **Invader Zim belongs to Nick. Not the guy that lives next door of course, I mean the company. Fleeb is an origional.

**Warning:** The main characters of the series, Dib, Zim, Gaz, and Gir will not be playing a huge role in this fic. They will probably appear, but they won't be doing much stuff.

* * *

**Nightmares **

A scream startled Miyuki who had just been about to take a bite of her candy bar. She was sitting at a table with Spleenk, Fleeb, and Shloonktapooxis who were also eating their rations for the day. Of course, they would sneak more later, but for now they called it their 'rations.'

She dropped the snack and ran out the door which was luckily very good at opening on time, otherwise she probably would have smacked right into it.

The three Resisty members looked at each other.

"We probably should have told her about that," Shloonktapooxis said sticking his tongue out as he continued grinning. He wasn't really sitting at the table so much as he was floating at it. Then again, as an alien with no limbs or any kind of regularly shaped body, sitting was pretty much impossible.

"Oh boy…" Fleeb sighed as he lowered his head. "Seeing an Irken after one of his nitemares?"

"Should we stop her?" Spleenk questiond, and Fleeb shook his head.

"Nah… At the speed she was moving, we won't be able to catch her in time."

Miyuki in the meanwhile had already discovered the source of the scream, even though there had only been one cry and it had lasted only a few seconds. She stood outside Lard Nar's door with her antennae pressed up against the cold metal. She could hear sobbing, which was a bad thing she knew. Irkens didn't cry, much, but she knew whensomeone did, it meant either pain or sorrow. So, either Lard Nar was mouring over something or he was in some kind of pain.

Right away the idea of Gelst coming back with a weapon came to her mind as the door slid open and she stumbled forward. Automatic doors… right.

The light was out, yet Miyuki was able to see everything relatively clearly. Like most Irkens, she had gone through basic military training below Irk's surface. Her eyes had been learned early on to handle dark places.

There was no one else in the room, just Lard Nar sitting in the center of his bed, with a blanket wrapped over his shoulders. His body quivered as tears streamed down his face. This was confusing… what could have triggered such a reaction? Well, besides her anyway… Irkens? Had there been an Irken intruder!?

She approached him slowly, worried that her presence might startle him enough to cause him to let out another scream…

"Nar…?" she questioned approaching him from the front so he could see her better. "Are you ok…?"

"Yes," he choked. "Please go away…"

"Did something happen?"

"No… go away…"

He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself as Miyuki seated herself at the edge of his bed.

"If nothing happened, why are you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Ah, so then something did happen."

"No… it was a nitemare… that's all…"

"Tell me."

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Because it's none of your buisness!" he snapped. When he realized that he had just yelled at an Irken, and he burried his head under his blanket and whimpered pitifully.

"Then tell me what a nitemare is," she said; her voice remained soft and calm. She was doing everything she could think of to appear non threatening to him; she even reminded herself not to flatten her antennae when she became annoyed.

"It's a dream…" he answered. "Only worse… the images you see are…"

"Horrifying?"

"Yes…"

"I'm glad I don't dream then, but why are you having these nitemares? Can't you stop them…?"

"Every time I try to sleep, for the past few months, I've been having nitemares…"

"That's strange… you didn't seem to be having a nitemare when you were sleeping earlier."

Lard Nar pulled the blanket down a little so he could look at her.

"It was a surprise for me too…"

"Maybe it helps having Spleenk in the room?"

"No… I've had nitemares before with him in here… he can sleep through anything."

"Maybe it helps having me in the room?" she chuckled. That was a silly idea. She was Irken. If anything, she would be the one causing his nitemares.

Lard Nar seemed to be taking this into consideration though, and Miyuki stopped chuckling when she noticed the far away look in his eyes. He blinked, and looked to her, biting his lip nervously.

"Could you stay here for a while…?"

She gave him an odd look; one of her eyes narrowed and only one of her antennae raised. "Right here? On your bed while you're restoring your energy?"

"No!" Lard Nar shook his head. His body was still trembling, and even he realized the strangeness of his request.

"I mean… in the room… somewhere."

Miyuki rose to her feet and wandered a few paces so that she stood beside Spleenk's bed.

"I could go on the ceiling again if you want."

"No… no mechanical legs…" he whispered as he slowly laid back and rested his head against his pillow He pulled the blanket up to his chin and stared up at the ceiling, listening to Miyuki's movements as she rounded Spleenk's bed. There was a picture of Spleenk and a female of his species standing side by side. Both were smiling. Miyuki took the photo in her hands and studied it more carefully. In the background there was a tree and a large metal dome… their planet didn't appear to be as technically advanced as Irk was.

It was much prettier though. It wasn't barren like some of the other planets she had seen when she was Tallest, like Meekrob; that planet was mostly sand and rock. Spleenk's planet had spirally trees and there were some kind of fungi looking bushes growing near the dome. She squinted a little at a group of Spleenk's race standing in front of the dome. That was strange.. one of them looked sort of like a disguised Irken on stilts. It was a disguised Irken on stilts! She put the picture back on on the side table and turned away.

There was a reason Spleenk was here. Miyuki couldn't help wondering what happened to the female in the picture.

She searched around Lard Nar's bed for any pictures that he might have left lying out in the open. Her antennae fell. There wasn't any… that wasn't very fun. Didn't he have a female back on Vort?

"What are you doing…?" the Vortian mumured, and one of his eyes blinked open.

"Looking for pictures."

"What makes you think I have any?"

"Well… Spleenk has one."

"I don't. Now please move away from my bed…"

"I'm not on your bed though."

"Yes I can see that, but I still don't want you near me… if you can understand," he groaned and shut his eyes, turning so that he faced away from Miyuki. "Why do you care about pictures anyway…?"

"There's no reason really… I was just curious." She replied drawing closer to Lard Nar; her Irken eyes glowing in the darkness that surrounded them. "I didn't know Spleenk has a female back on his home planet."

"He did… before…" Lard Nar corrected her solemnly. "She was killed when the Armada showed up and preformed the final canon sweep."

"The canon sweep was created to destroy small animals and vegitation; the organic life that was deemed unimportant by our culture. How could it kill Spleenk's female?"

"They upgraded the canon sweep…" Lard Nar murmured. "It pains me to think that my people are the ones building that kind of technology."

"Spleenk always seems so happy… I never would have guessed he lost someone close to him."

The room fell silent, and Miyuki's eyes travelled back to the picture. Spleenk must look at that picture and remember everyday she realized.

She shook her head sadly. What was happening to Irk…? There were plenty of unihabited planets to build food courts and fuel stations on, and they could always add another smeeth factory or two to make more Irken workers. It didn't make sense to destroy harmless planets or enslave people to work for the Empire when an Irken drone basically did the same work as a slave, only they were paid more.

To keep herself preoccupied while Lard Nar restored his energy (which he was finally doing), she began going through the devices she had in her pak. Mechanical legs, handheld scanner, a communicator for short calls, purple binoculars, a small teleportation machine, a force field device which consisted of three metalic bars with purple orbs on the end, the ever important life support system; it was stuck in place, the memory section; it also couldn't be removed, and removeable torches on the end of each mechanical leg along with wires and other things that kept everything in place.

After toying with her communicator, she finally got it to lock onto the computer. She sent a signal to it before seating herself on the floor. She really wasn't expecting anyone to answer.

"Hello!" Shloonktapooxis greeted, and his face appeared on the communicator. "Who's calling!?"

"Miyuki," she replied and the cone shaped creature stuck out his tongue.

"Ohh! I thought you took the space ship again because we hadn't seen you for a whiiile, but it's still here so… what are you doing?"

"I'm going through everything in my pak."

"That's awesome! What do you have in there anyway?"

"A whole list of things," she replied. "Is Spleenk with you?"

"No, he's watching Gelst right now because that guy is having one of his meeting things again," Shloonktapooxis said making a face. "He's trying to get the Resisty to follow him over Lard Nar. He's been doing that for months." He moved over a little bit, and Fleeb came and stood beside him.

"Fleeb is here though," he said, and the small yellow creature waved at the screen. "So where are you?"

"Lard Nar's room."

"Oh, did he get mad and lock you up somewhere?"

"No…"

"Yeah I guess that would be pretty much impossible. I heard you were the new security though."

"What? Who said that?"

"Spleenk did."

Miyuki bright her hand to her forehead and sighed.

She continued talking to Shloonktapooxis for the next couple of hours, until Lard Nar groaned, sat up, and slid off the bed. The purple floating Resisty member always had something to say, and Fleeb wasn't given very much time to talk.

"What are you doing…?" Lard Nar asked coming up from behind her. He looked over her shoulder at the device in her hands.

"Hi boss!" Shloonktapooxis greeted.

"How long have you been talking?" he questioned Miyuki, but Shloonktapooxis replied for her.

"We've been talking for hours!"

Miyuki stood up and stretched with the communicator still in her hands. She brought it back down so that it was below eye level and smiled.

"I'll see you out there Shloon," she told him, and the smiling cone shaped thing nodded as she cut the transmission.

"You made a link between that device and our computer?" Lard Nar questioned. His mind was already racing with the possibilities. Maybe if he could it up to the computer, the combind range would be enough to reach further than just Food Courtia.

"Yes I did," she answered watching the Vortian as he did up the clasp under his neck. "There are a lot of devices in my pak I forgot about. I'm sure you could use them to fix that useless computer."

Lard Nar stared up at her in mild surprise. "You mean… you'd let me use your pak…?"

"Of course," she said extending her hand to him. "We're partners in this."

The Vortian looked at her hand, outstretched in an offer of friendship. He hesistaed for a moment, but he took her offer, placing his hand in hers and giving it a shake.

"Alright… together we'll stop the Irken Armada."

"You bet we will."

He let go and lowered his head. A part of him didn't want to trust her, no, he couldn't trust her, but... the nitemare hadn't returned. She had been in the room, and no images of dying Vortians and laughing Irkens had plagued him. It seemed that the Irken Miyuki was some how able to keep these horrible visions from his mind.

This is why he wouldn't complain now that she had officially offered her assistance.

"Let's get that computer working," Miyuki spoke, snapping Lard Nar from his thoughts.

"You know about computer technology?"

"Nope."

"So you're just going to sit back and watch while I do all the work then?"

That's what it had been like when Vort had been allied with Irk… and now of course since his people were slaves to the Irken Empire.

"I wouldn't risk letting me toy with it," she replied with a coyish smile; her curled antennae rising a little. "When I was Tallest, I tried fixing a communication system once… I'm still not exactly sure how it exploded."

"Alright alright," Lard Nar said as he headed for the door holding his head. He let out a sigh. "I'll do all the work; it's what Vortians have been doing for decades anyway."

"I might not be good in the area of engineering, but I'll take over when it comes time to establish a connection with Jackers," she told him as she walked passed him into the hallway.

* * *

**More Notes: **I update this fic when I update "What Kindness Does," and since I was hiding after killing Zim in that fic, I didn't update this one either. So I ask you now… do you really want Zim to be in this fic? Do you? Think of the death that could happen! I'm probably joking. No worries.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes/Disclaimer:** You all know who owns Invader Zim, and its not me. It will never be me.

There is some mature subject matter in this chapter, but its not too graphic.

* * *

**Take What you Need**

"So… you're from the Armada then?"

The alien clad in dangerous looking armour questioned as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes, that's what I just said," Miyuki replied narrowing her large purple eyes and flattening her antennae in irritation.

"But your signal is very far away from the Massive's signal."

"But she is Irken," his partner stated from off screen.

"True…"

"I'm far away from the Massive because I'm picking up donuts for the Tallest at Food Courtia. They told me I might as well call you guys and get you to send some supplies to me so they don't have to 'deal with it' themselves later on."

"Why are they asking for a whole new ship?"

"My Tallest think your ships are very interesting. They want to get those horrible Vortian slaves to adopt some of the machanics into our new model; Voot Cruiser 4.36 classified."

"Classified?"

She slammed her fists on the keyboard. "It means that the models aren't supposed to be seen until the Tallest unveil them on planet Conventia! Now tell me if you're going to fulfill this request or not! I remind you that the Tallest won't be very happy if they don't get their new Battleship!"

"We'll do it," the Jacker stated raising his hands defensively. "Is there a time limit?"

"My Tallests want it right now."

"How about we ship it right now, and you can bring it to them later on today?"

"I guess that will be acceptable… but it better arrive here soon!"

She flicked the monitor off and let out a huge sigh.

"I thought he was going to see through me for a while there… he kept asking so many questions."

Lard Nar nodded wordlessly. The 'horrible Vortian slave' comment had stung him more than he wanted to admit.

"I didn't mean it Nar," Miyuki reassured him when she saw that he was sitting with his eyes downcast and his hands clasped tightly together. "About the Vortians. You know I didn't mean it."

"I know!" he spat. "Lets just move on to the next stage of the plan."

"Snacks?"

Lard Nar blinked. "Is that what it was…?"

They hadn't eaten in a while… Lard Nar hadn't even realized he was hungry. He had worked hard all evening to get the computer working properly. Thank's to Miyuki's communicator, the torches on the end of her spider legs, and the supply of energy created by her pak, he was able to advance the computer's range by 78 percent… once he had calmed down about using the torches of course…

"Is everyone else alseep already?" Miyuki questioned as they walked side by side to the snacking room.

"It looks like it… we must have lost track of time."

"On Food Courtia it's 24.56 hours," she commented slyly.

"Ok… I lost track of time then…" Lard Nar grumbled.

They each grabbed themselves a couple of candy bars from the boxes and sat down at a table. Neither of them spoke until they were finished eating. Folding his bandaged hands on the table, Lard Nar cleared his throat.

"Thank you Miyuki… I didn't expect you to help us this much…"

Her antennae lifted a little, and she smile at him.

"The truth is I miss Vort… It was like a second home to me when I was Tallest. I went there often for one thing or another and always found an excuse to return again."

"Really?" Lard Nar questioned raising an invisible brow. "Because of the couch?"

"The couch was nice, but no… before I was Tallest, I was studying to become a scientist in the field of smeet engineering on Irk. Most of my classmates were Vortian. Its difficult making friends with other Irkens since we have this whole 'we need no one' attitude, but it was different with Vortians. They became my friends, and I returned to visit them when I was the Tallest several times. There were still prejudices of course; no one could believe I was spending so much time on another planet. They said it was disgusting."

"Why did you deside to befriend Vortians..? Didn't you have the same idea as your people?"

That anything non-Irken was inferior…

"Of course I thought that way in the beginning, until I realized I was a horrible student and I needed as much help as I could get… not to mention my personality is a little bit less proud than most other Irkens, I suppose it was because I was at the perfect height for my field and I already knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life."

"Then you became the Tallest…"

Miyuki shrugged. "It just goes to show that you can't be certain about anything."

"But if you were given the chance to become the Tallest again… you would take it wouldn't you?"

She paused as she thought about this for a while… If she was given the chance to become Tallest… would she? It was a rather stressful thing to be the Tallest, and if Purple and Red actually took their position seriously they might have thought so too. She would be responsible for the types of technical advances on Irk, establishing treaties and building relationships with other planets, defending Irk against enemy invasion, making sure that there was the right balance of drones and soldiers, exportation and importantion of materials, presiding over planet Judgementia, giving speeches at Conventia, and over seeing all processes associated with building weapons, important building structures, or finding upgrades.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy doing most of these things… but beig Tallest had never been her dream. The Controle Brains had named her 'Tallest Miyuki.' She hadn't been given a choice.

"If it would help Irk and former ally Vort, then I would gladely become the Tallest again," she answered him. Lard Nar nodded, understanding that her feelings weren't as clear-cut as she was trying to make them.

They left the room together in silence; each of them focusing on their own personal thoughts. Not everyone was asleep like Miyuki and Lard Nar had first assumed. Spleenk walked down the hallway towards them with Fleeb in tow.

"Oh! You guys are finished with the computer?"

He had come in while Lard Nar had been distracted upgrading the computer's range. Miyuki had been busy too, rehersing what she would say when they were finally able to make contact with Jackers.

"Yes," Lard Nar replied absently as he continued passed the two Resisty members. Fleeb followed after him, ready to warn his captain about Gelst's stupid speeches of doom while Miyuki stayed behind with Spleenk.

"I was wondering if you could answer a question of mine," Miyuki began, and Spleenk stared at her dumbfounded.

"Uhh… sure. I mean, I'll try," he told her.

"I want to know what it means when two units share the same bed."

Flustered, Spleenk rubbed the back of his head with two arms on the same side and began fumbling. "Well umm.. you see… it doesn't have to mean anything… but usually the two have feelings for each other when they share a bed, and that's why they share it."

"That makes sense to me," Miyuki replied. "But why then are you acting so strange? Lard Nar said he didn't want to talk about it, but if it's this straight-forward…"

"Wait wait…" Spleenk inturrupted her, and he blinked. "Lard Nar sent you to me for this!? Does he want to give you some kind of sex education!?"

Miyuki frowned a little. "Sex? Is that what it's called?"

"Noooooo!" Spleenk shrieked falling to the floor and clutching his head. Why did he have to bring it up!? Now he was going to have to explain! Unless… he could do the old run around and send her back to Lard Nar! Besides him, Spleenk was the only other Resisty member that reproduced in couples; male and female.

"I'm sure Lard Nar will tell you," Spleenk reassured her, and he wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders and grinned, trying to appear innocent as he "stealthily" tried to get out of a long uncomfortable explanation about their species' reproductive methods.

"You should go catch up with him. I mean I'd tell you but…," he thought quickly. "I've got to count all the snacks again! Yes! That's where I was going actually. Bye!"

He ran passed her into the provisions room and the door shut behind him, leaving Miyuki standing in the hallway perplexed.

This is the reason Irkens relied so heavily on computers for information… you couldn't trust another living creature to tell you anything or get the facts straight. The computer! Of course, it was fixed now which meant she could look up information from all kinds of sources.

She travelled down the hallways back to the room which she used to call the 'storage room' but had decided to remane the 'equipement room' now that it actually had a functioning computer. She sat down at the chair and typed in "sex." Well, that's what Spleenk said it was called anyway…

The first site that popped up was Wikopotia. Her eyes widened as she read over the information. Her antennae drooped. Fertalization. Courtship behaviour. Intercourse.

"I'm going to be here for a while…" she told herself shaking her head. No wonder they didn't want to explain sex. There were pages and pages of information on it.

A few hours later, Lard Nar walked into the equipement room. He had been looking for Miyuki after speaking to Spleenk about a half an hour ago. Apparently the fool had sent her after him, but he hadn't seen her around. When he saw her sitting at the computer, he went to speak with her… and he stopped and stared with his mouth hanging open when he caught sight of the diagrams she was looking at.

"Miyuki!?" he questioned loudly, pulling her attention away from what Lard Nar believed to be alien porno. "What are you doing!?"

"Well, Spleenk told me that two units sharing a bed was called sex, so I decided to look it up instead of asking you about it like he suggested. Computers leave less room for error when displaying information, as long as you find the right information of course. I think I've got it right."

She scrolled down a little bit, and Lard Nar covered his eyes and turned away. Miyuki didn't seem disgusted by the act. Her species didn't reproduce this way anymore, so she was curious.

"He was incorrect," she stated. "This 'sex' can be done anywhere, though the most common place seems to be in a bed or nest of some sort."

"Turn that off!" Lard Nar demanded.

Miyuki turned back to the Vortian and grinned a little. She knew a lot about sex now, and this seemed to be making Lard Nar uncomfortable.

"Did you know that for some species there are three kinds of intercourse?"

"That's enough Miyuki!"

"I'm only teasing," she said lowering her antennae as she exited the information banks on the computer and flicked the screen off. "Shouldn't you be restoring your energy by now? Everyone else seems to be."

"I slept all day…" Lard Nard grumbled folding his arms over his chest. "I'm probably going to be up for most of the night."

"You sound angry," she noted raising an antenna.

"No… I'm not," he replied letting his shoulders sag as he breathed a sigh. "Its just… that topic isn't… I don't like talking about it…"

"Sleeping?" she asked and Lard Nar shook his head.

"No. The other one…"

"Oh… why? I thought it was natural for some species… it's how you reproduce isn't it?"

"Yes…" he replied as tears filled his eyes. His bandaged hands started trembling though he fought to keep them still. "Not everyone uses the act for that purpose…"

"What do you mean?"

"Besides, most of the females on Vort have been killed… they left only a handful of them… maybe a dozen…" his voice cracked. Tears were running freely down his face, and he turned quickly to leave the room.

Miyuki came up behind him before the doors could open; her hand clasping his shoulder. His muscles tensed and he bit his lip as he slowly turned his head to look up at the Irken.

"Did Irkens kill someone close to you?"

"My species as a whole have been slaughtered; the survivors imprisoned to serve the Tallest day and night… I didn't have anyone particularly close to me killed… but still, it…" Hurts. He couldn't bring himself to say it in front of an Irken, but she seemed to understand. Her large purple eyes reflected sadly down at him. Irken pity… he hated it worse that their threats.

"Stop looking at me like that!" he suddenly snapped, and he shrugged her hand off his shoulder. "I don't need your pity…"

Why did he yell at her? He questioned himself when he noticed the scowl that had appeared in her expression. She was going to hurt him for stepping out of line, wait, no… that's what the other Irkens had done. He wasn't on Vort anymore; he was here, but with an Irken.

He was able to keep his mind relatively on track when he had the Vortian battle ship; a piece of his home planet with him… but when it was destroyed; his mind had started to fracture. Startling memories that had been pushed aside for the thrill of the battle had returned to haunt him in the past few months driving him down into a pit of dispair.

"You don't need pity? I'll note that, but for now, you do at least need my help," she told him.

"Yes…" he admitted lowering his eyes. Was she threatening to leave…?

"Your outbursts are very irratic… you might want to get that checked out."

"I already have… there's nothing that can be done about it…" he chuckled a little and forced a smile which only turned bitter. His personality hadn't been quite the same since his experiances on Vort after the Irken's invaded.

"Why are you here Miyuki?" he asked without looking at her. His hands had fallen uselessly to his his side as he spoke.

"I've already told you that Nar," Miyuki responded. He didn't believe that she could have been friends with Vortians during her rule? He was alive then; he knew it was true. Why was he talking like this?

"No… I mean really…"

"Fine," she stated glaring down at the Vortian. "I'll tell you what you want to hear then. After being reactivated by my pak here in you horrible filthy base; I decided that I would return to Irk and become the Tallest once again so I could take over as a murderous dictator bent on the death of all alien species! The only reason I stayed here at all was because I enjoyed watching your pitiful attempts at trying to keep this poorly planned resistance from falling to pieces right in front of you…" she gave him a wicked smile which made Lard Nar cringe as his quaking form stumbled backwards and hit the wall.

Her expression softened as she moved closer to the frightened Vortian who shrank away and raised his hands over his head to protect himself from the expected harm.

"Is that what you expect me to say Nar?" she questioned him softly. "I would ever mean that. What I have been saying until now is true."

"Please Miyuki… I'm sorry…" he whimpered.

"I'm not going to harm you," she told him as tears began gathering in her eyes. The only Vortian she had seen in years was frightened to death of her… It was painful remembering the past when the present was like this.

She knelt down and carefully wrapped her arms around his small body. His mucles tensed and he shut his eyes tightly against this breach. The room fell into silece. The only noise came from Lard Nar's quick trembling breaths and Miyuki's calm soft breathing. After a few minutes in Miyuki's embrace, Lard Nar relaxed and allowed his head to rest against her. For this one brief moment with strong Irken arms around him, he felt protected.

"No matter what I'm capable of…" Miyuki said softly. "Believe me when I say I'll never purposely hurt you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: **I'm just posting this. Yup. Got nothing else to say really.

* * *

**Freedom from Enslavement**

Miyuki was starting to get a little annoyed at her pak's clock. She was even more annoyed when she realized that she had been mentally noting everything that was going on and the time it took place.

7.23 hours Food Courtia time, Spleenk woke from his unconscious state and left to help Fleeb and another Resisty member fix a hole that had been made in the base's wall when a small meteor crashed into it at 3.44 hours. 8.27 hours, Lard Nar got up and left to fix the slightly battered escape pod. She was left alone from 8.28 hours until 10.43 when Gelst found her and started yelling at her for being a 'stupid filthy Irken.' After beating the cloaked alien into submission, Miyuki found Lard Nar in the supply room. He had taken his bandages off now that the cuts on his hands were almost completely healed. He finished his work at 11.32 hours and they ate lunch together at 12.10 hours which was the exact same time the Jacker's ship was finally delivered.

Annoyed at their slowness, she called the Planet Jackers at 12.34 hours and threatened them with the Tallest's wrath. They apologized repeatedly.

At 12.52 hours, the Resisty members were called to inspect the new vessel. Everyone was very happy to have a new battle ship, and most of them were shocked when Lard Nar told them that Miyuki was the one that got it for them, free of charge. 13.45 hours everyone boarded the battleship except for Fleeb, Shloonktapooxis, and two other Resisty members who were stationed at the base.

Now it was 14.07 hours, and Miyuki was sitting in one of the control chairs, her antennae twitching in annoyance as her pak's clock continued to inform her of the time…

"So what's the plan now cap-tain…" Gelst asked, his voice retaining his usual mockery. "You aren't going to get us killed by listening to Spleenk again are you?"

"I said I was sorry…" Spleenk said sounding a little hurt by the smart comment.

"That's enough Geslt," Lard Nar growled as he glared at the cocky Resisty member. "I'm getting sick of your attitude. If you're going to be an idiot, keep your mouth shut!"

The Resisty members grinned at one another as Gelst stared at Lard Nar stunned. This was the captain they remembered.

The Vortian's eyes turned to Miyuki who was slouching in her chair. He narrowed his eyes a little. The Irken looked very annoyed with her antennae flattened against her head and her eyes glaring a hole in the ceiling. Her pak's clock had slowly started to become overwhelming… it was probably an after effect of the blob monster, or maybe it had always been this strong and she hadn't been given enough time to grow accustomed to it.

"Miyuki?"

"Hm?" She had been only half listening until now.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Yes," she said tilting her head back so that she could look at Lard Nar upside down. "We send a warning message to the Tallest before going to Fleeb's planet. It's furthest away from the Armada at this point, and Fleeb told me that there aren't very many guards there. The Armada won't be able to reach us in time to do anything."

"Why would we warn them!?" Gelst demanded, and Miyuki gave him her best evil Irken glare that shut him up.

"That would be half the fun," she explained as her expression lightened. "They will know something is happening, yet they won't be able to do anything about it."

"I like it," Spleenk said.

"That scares me…" Lard Nar admitted. "But alright! If no one else has any other suggestions, we'll do that!"

At 15.33 hours they arrived near Fleeb's home planet which had been incased in some kind of metalic shell. There were conveyer belts running through the planet and all around it, and on platforms were Irken guards with prodding sticks, and small yellow creatures that looked like Fleeb.

There were four large devices hovering around the planet. They were shaped like hoops, but Lard Nar assured them that those mechanical devices could easily destroy the Jacker's battleship.

Spleenk stood over Miyuki showing her how to form a long distance communication link with the Massive. She pulled on her hood and pushed the buttons that Spleenk had indicated. The small computer screen would show her face (which was now hidden by the hood's shadows) and the Tallests'. Everyone else didn't have to worry about being seen, and Spleenk turned the audio way down so that only Miyuki could be heard by them. The last thing she wanted was for one of the Resisty members to burst out laughing or do something foolish like that. If that happened, they would never be taken seriously.

"What are we going to do about those explosion inducing security things floating around out there?" one of the Resisty members questioned.

There were a few more murmurs, but that was all. Miyuki stopped herself from turning around and telling them her next plan of action; the Tallest were on the screen.

Purple and Red. They had changed a lot over the years. Miyuki remembered when they were still small and curious little Irkens that had been placed in the training facilities beneath Irks surface. They looked at her now with confusion written in their expressions… With her features hidden, they wouldn't recognize her, but her voice! She had forgotten about that part.

Luckily most ships had a built in voice-changer, and Spleenk had been able to activate it.

"Why… if it isn't Red and Purple…" she said trying to sound as creepy as possible. Her purple eyes widened then narrowed when she realized that she sounded like a guy. She turned to Lard Nar who was off screen. He shrugged. It would probably be better if they thought she was a guy anyway.

"Who are you?" Red questioned squinting an eye at the monitor.

"As if I would reveal to you my true identity FOOLISH Irkens! You may call me Zastra! I've joined with the Resisty to stop your acts of evil that you've been inflicting upon the universe!"

"Wait wait," Purple said making a face. "The Resisty? You guys are still calling yourselves that!?"

"You have no right to talk about strange names Purple! You yourself are named after a colour."

Purple's antennae flattened as he glared angrily into the screen.

"I don't like you…" he stated.

"Ha! I don't care! The Resisty is about to retake one of your conquered planets!" She leaned closer into the screen; her eyes glowing eerily in the dim light.

"Your Empire will fall Irkens!"

"So…" Red looked at Purple for a second before flicking his eyes back to her. "You haven't actually done anything yet?"

"Be patient little Irkens."

"Little!?" Purple snapped. That was a horrible insult to any Irken.

"You will see just what the Resisty is capable of."

She cut the transmission and pulled her hood down, breathing a sigh of relief.

"That went well," she desided, and Lard Nar nodded in agreement. The other Resisty members cheered for her. It was a job well done, but there was a sad look in Miyuki's eyes that only Spleenk seemed to notice… She shook her head. Red and Purple weren't smeets any longer. They were dangerous now, and they needed to be stopped for the good of all worlds beyond Irk.

"Alright, now how are we going to do this?" Lard Nar questioned her. "Those security rings will absorb any laser energy fired at them."

"We can pull them apart," she suggested. Unlike Vortian battle ships, a Jacker's war vessel was equipped with a long robotic arm.

It was 16.23 hours; all security rings had been destroyed. Lard Nar had the pilots move the ship as near to the planet as he dared. The Irken guards stared up at the vessel while all of the little aliens with screws in their heads paused from their forced labour to see what was going on.

Disguised by her cloak so that the Irken guards wouldn't recognize her, she dropped down from a hatch in the bottom of the ship, spun in the air, and landed on her feet in front of a startled slave. She looked from right to left before leaping onto one of the conveyor belts and riding it along to a hover platform. There was a guard standing on it, and he had his taser pointed at her. She dodged the thrust of the weapon and slammed her fist into the Irken's head, knocking him to the ground. Her claws dug into his pak and electricity coursed through her body and sent sparks flying.

By now the other guards were all rushing to capture her, and she flew from them using the floating platform. She drove it forward and used one of the metal spider legs from her pak to carve through a section of a conveyor belt. It sparked furiously as it fell apart and packages dropped off and fell into space.

Encouraged by this bold stranger, Fleeb's people began attacking the remaining guards who hadn't left their posts. Smikka was leading them. Ever since switching the names on those two packages, he had hoped that an opportunity would come that would allow him to do more, and now it had.

She held the mechanical limb from her pak as though it were a hand held weapon to disguise the fact that it was actually Irken technology. There was no reason for her to reveal to them this early on that she was an Irken.

The bodies of guards fell as they were knocked off their platforms. Some of them yelled in horror when they realized that their feet where no longer planted safely on the platform. Underneath her hood, Miyuki's antennae drooped as her Irken equivilant of a heart began to grow heavy in her chest.

Her long black boots clanked noisily when she lept from the platform she'd been using to a free one. The Jacker battleship shot it's weapons at a large group of Irken guards, frying them completely so that they lay writhing in agony. Miyuki threw her fist into the face of an Irken gaurd and kicked to the side as another one charged at her after losing his weapon. Both of them went down. She flew passed a few more guards who blew over as she zoomed by.

18.34 hours and the planet had been taken back from the Irken Machine. They couldn't leave the slaves there, so Lard Nar begrudgingly let them all on board. There were only twenty three survivors. The final canon sweep from not to long ago had destroyed most of them, and a few of them had died fighting with their Irken captors.

Miyuki was the last one back on board. She stood at the center of the dwindling chaos watching the few remaining guards as they stared wide-eye at their silent attacker. With a quiet sigh, she turned away from them and leapt back into the battleship.

"We should shoot the rest of them!" Gelst shouted at Lard Nar who was sitting calmly in the captain's chair. There was an echo of agreement from the recently rescued slaves. They wanted to see their captors dead.

"We leave," Miyuki stated. Her expression was unreadable since the hood was still covering her face, but everyone could tell from the tone of her voice that she was deathly serious.

Fleeb's people looked wonderously at their savior, and quickly switched sides, agreeing with her.

"We need them alive so they can tell the Tallest what took place here," she told them; her voice was powerful, demanding attention. "They will surely take us seriously now."

"Is that the real reason!?" Gelst snapped, and Lard Nar stood up in his chair.

"Fly us back to the base," he called to the large three headed alien at one of the controls before turning to Miyuki.

"We were successful because of you Zastra… and for that we are grateful."

All of the Resisty member's seemed to take the hint, and they began calling Miyuki by her alias. She would reveal herself to be Irken in good time, but for now, she needed to make sure that her presence wouldn't disturb the ones that were forced to endure Irk's cruelty.

Miyuki was smiling, though no one could see it. Everything was going well… so then why did something inside her sting so badly? She knew of course, it was because she had killed Irkens. She had killed her brothers… She hadn't actually seen any of them die, but the guilt made the whole experience seem much worse to her.

19.12 hours; everyone was sleeping at the Resisty's base except for Miyuki, Spleenk, and Lard Nar. Fleeb, Shloonktapooxis, and the two other Resisty members that had stayed behind had been informed of Miyuki's new alias, though everyone was sure that Shloonktapooxis was bound to forget. The provision's room had been turned into a bunking area for the rescued slaves, and Fleeb chose to be with his own people, forfitting his bed to 'Zastra' who would need to keep up appearances by pretending to sleep every once and a while, though there were already rumours amongst Fleeb's people that Zastra was some kind of android.

Spleenk was sitting on his bed, and Lard Nar was lying down on his, watching Miyuki who was standing in between the two.

"I can't believe how successful today was!" Spleenk said enthusiastically. "We sure did sure those Irkens something!" He paused and frowned a little. Then his eyes widened as he raised his hands defensively. "I mean… not you Miyuki! You're one of us."

Silence followed, and Spleenk shifted uncomfortably. "You aren't taking this very well are you Miyuki…?" he asked, motioning for her to sit on the bed beside him, and she did.

"I just… they were my people and I… I killed them…" she mumbled, and Spleenk wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders.

"We won't send you out there next time," he told her. His voice was kind, and Miyuki could tell that he really did mean well.

"Miyuki…" Lard Nar said quietly as he lifted himself to sit.

"Are you really ok with this…?"

Of course she wasn't, but what else was she supposed to do…? Vort was still under Irken rule, and she wanted to change that.

"I'll survive," she told him with a forced smile. "I'm just showing off my wonderful killing machine side that I've kept hidden for so long.."

Lard Nar lowered his head and brought a hand to his face in lingering shame while Spleenk pulled Miyuki into a hug.

"Our next plan will involve a littleless fighting, right Lard Nar?"

"It was her plan," the Vortian stated crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why don't you come up with one for a change?" Spleenk asked a little forcefully.

"Fine… maybe I will!"

It was 21.00 hours when Spleenk fell alseep. Miyuki was standing near the doors pondering over her own actions. Maybe if she had done things differently…

"I understand if you want to leave," Lard Nar said. In the darkness Miyuki could see the small Vortian lying in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He had probably been lost in his own thoughts as well.

"I'm fine…" she told him stubbornly. "Really."

"You're lying aren't you?"

Miyuki nodded, and she took the Vortian's apparent willingness to speak with her as an invitation to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Its horrible seeing your people getting hurt… but when you're the one that's doing it…"

"You're Irken though… I mean, it shouldn't bother you this much should it?"

"I'm tempted to be insulted by that remark," Miyuki stated. She sighed and lowered her eyes to the floor. "But you're probably right. Harming Irkens smaller than me shouldn't bother me, but then, I was always a little off. The reason I wanted to be a smeet engineer in the first place was because I thought they were… what is that word? Delicious? No… cute. Yes that's the word."

She laughed.

"Maybe I'm defective."

"Nonesense," Lard Nar said sitting up so he could see her more easily. "There's nothing wrong with having a conscious."

"Why do you keep using words I don't understand?"

"It means you feel guilt… sometimes you might even feel sorry for others."

"You mean like pitying them?" she questioned slyly, and Lard Nar realized he had been caught.

"In a way… but it's a bit different than that."

"How?"

"I don't want to explain it."

Lard Nar paused as he thought about what he should say. He still didn't trust Miyuki, but she had helped them quite a bit. No, she had done more than that. She had rescued them completely.

"If it wasn't for you Miyuki… the Resisty would have fallen apart…" he admitted softly. "You've helped us more than I ever hoped for."

She shook her head. "No, I didn't… not really. I mean, you guys already had the organization. All I had to do was supply the ship. Besides, we haven't won the war yet."

"You're right…" Lard Nar said. "The Armada is still out there, enslaving other races and destroying their home planets. "

"This life is a nitemare isn't it?" she questioned holding her head. "To be truthful, being trapped inside the blob monster was the most peace I've ever had." She turned to Lard Nar and offered up a small smile. "Sad isn't it?"

Lard Nar smiled back at her. "I haven't even been given the luxury of spending a few decades inside a blob monster…" he reminded her, and she laughed.

"That's true, but you're people have the universe's most comfortable couch."

He sighed. "The Tallest have it now…"

"But we're the ones that are going to get it back," she reminded him.

21.46 hours, Lard Nar fell alseep. 22.31 hours, Miyuki desided to test out the bed she had been given in the Resisty member's room. She lay there silently, staring up at the ceiling, pictureing the look of horror on the Irken guard's faces. With a sigh, she rolled onto her sigh and discovered that Gelst was only two beds down from her.

She left that room at 22.54 hours, bored, her eyes glowing dully in the darkness.There had to be a way to remind herself who she was… she was Irken. She would always be Irken. Killing her people couldn't change that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's notes/Disclaimer: **A classmate died in a rafting accident a few days ago. I found out yesterday, so I'm a little depressed right now.

No character off of Invader Zim belongs to me.

**Horror of the Irkens**

It was silent… Spleenk had finally stopped snoring after falling off his bed. Lard Nar had heard the crash, and opened his eyes to find Miyuki staring down at him. He was lying on his back, and when he tried to move his arms to lift himself up, he realized that Miyuki was pinning him down.

Panic. His eyes widened as he turned to see that Spleenk wasn't just sleeping… he was dead. Green blood had already begun to pool beneath his body, though his eyes were closed as though he were still sleeping.

"Miyuki…" he murmured as he began struggling to free himself. It was no use… she was too strong for him. "What are you doing…?"

She grinned and leaned forwards so that her face was close to his. "You didn't really think that saving Vort was really what I wanted did you?"

"But…" his voice was weak, and she tilted her head back and laughed.

"Poor pitiful Vortian."

With a few clicks, the mechanical legs from her pak appeared.

"No Miyuki!" Lard Nar shouted as he twisted beneath her, hoping that in some way he would be able to escape her clutches. "Don't! Please!"

He let out a scream when the metal tore through his clothing and cut into his flesh. Blood dripped from his torso, and he stopped moving, knowing that it would only hurt worse if he tried to escape. He whimpered when he felt her hands on his skin. She had released his arms now that her spider legs rose above them like horrifying figures of torture, leaving her hands free… she was removing the tattered remains of his uniform.

Fearfuly, he squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. Her claws travelled lower. There was nothing he could do to stop her…

"Nar!"

Her voice stung. She was shaking him… that didn't make any sense.

"Wake up!"

Now it did… his eyes slowly opened, and he let out a small shriek of terror when he saw Miyuki looking down at him. Her hood had fallen off on her flight from the provision's room to his room. She had snuck in passed Fleeb and his people to eat some of the snack bars. There was nothing quite like eating snacks to remind her that she was indeed Irken, though resently she'd begun to get tired of snack bars. Why couldn't there be any dry fruit or something that was a little heathier?

This was the reason snacking hadn't worked out so well. Stupid junk food. She still had a wrapper clutched in her hand.

"You were probably having another nitemare," she told the panic stricken Vortian who stared up at her with wide frightened eyes. He was sitting there trembling, and Miyuki had no idea what to do.

"How long have you been in the room…?" he qustioned glancing quickly at Spleenk's bed. He was still asleep of course… nothing could wake him. Nar felt the front of his uniform… it was still there.

"All night…?"

"Ah… no," Miyuki admitted holding up the wrapper. "I was getting myself some snacks after trying out Fleeb's old bed… which I don't really like, but I'm not going to complain." She squinted one of her eyes as she watched him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing…" He said hugging his knees to his chin. There was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep after that. He could still feel the place Miyuki's spider legs had cut into…

"I… I should probably…" Lard Nar began frowning a little. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of those graphic and painful images that kept playing through his head. Why…? He had nitemares like that before, but the Irken had always been a faceless beast. Now his mind had latched onto Miyuki… she was an Irken; his dream had taken her face.

"You should do what?" Miyuki asked backing up a little. "It's only 5.23 hours. You still have a few more hours left… I think. Is that how this sleep works?"

"I can't…" he brought coveres his face with his hands and shook his head. "I can't…"

"Do you want something to eat?"

His stomach was churning. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"No."

"Ok… How about star gazing?"

"What?"

"Star gazing. You can take the escape pod out."

"That sounds stupid…" he growled. There was no way something like that would be able to calm him.

She rolled her eyes. Proud and stubborn; it was no wonder Irk had been allied with Vort for so long.

"Fine fine, I'll go with you," she told him smoothing back her antennae. "We can discuss our next plan while we're out there, so it'll be buisness too, alright?"

An Irken that suggests star gazing…? Lard Nar could only stare. He wasn't sure what to think of this.

"Come," she beckoned, and for one reason or another he obeyed.

They walked together down the twisted passage ways; Miyuki was leading while Lard Nar followed behind her with his head down. He hadn't even bothered putting on his goggles…

At first, Miyuki was going to drive, but Lard Nar who had snapped out of his depression for the moment, insisted that he would drive the small ship. Miyuki moved over into the passanger's seat. She wasn't going to argue, not after the last time when she nearly put two holes in the wall trying to fly the stupid thing.

The cover came down over top of them, and Lard Nar switched on the power. The dash lit up and he took hold of the control stick. Only now did he fully realize what he was doing. He turned and looked at Miyuki… the Irken he was going to be alone with in space. This was her idea… what if she turned on him? There would be no one to come help him out there… he would be completely defensless.

Miyuki, on the other hand, had taken his hesitation as a sign that he had some how forgotten how to fly the vessel.

"Here, I think it's like this," she said, reaching over and pushing the control stick up. The vessel was thrown upwards and was quickly launched out of the room through the open hatch.

Luckily Lard Nar had kept a tight grip on the control stick and Miyuki was too tall to be thrown around.

"I know how to fly it!" he snapped glaring angrily out the wind shield. He bit his lip and cast a quick glance at Miyuki to see if she was angry. One of her eyes was narrowed slightly, but there was no indication that she was upset.

"I just thought you were having a memory lapse," she replied sitting back in her seat. "I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence."

There was a rift between them. Miyuki could sense it. The small Vortian kept his eyes staring straight ahead and his hand clutching the control stick firmly.

"You can let go of the controls now Nar," she said watching the painfully bright stars drift by them as he continued moving the ship forward. There was no reply, so she turned and gave him another one of her questioning looks.

"Nar? We're far enough."

Silence.

She sighed and took his hand, forcing him to release the control stick. He let out a frightened squeak and recoiled from her as the ship slowly came to a stop. She released his arm and he fell back against the wall; his heart was beating violently against his chest as air came to him in quick breaths. He had been afraid to stop, and now…

Alone with an Irken. He could only imagine what was going to happen.

Miyuki reached out, and he closed his eyes and turned his head away. Her fingers traced over his horns; they were softer than they appeared.

A sharp intake of breath was Lard Nar's reaction. His eyes blinked open seeing the face of the Irken female.

"Miyuki…?" he questioned as she gently pulled him away from the wall, closer, until he was almost touching her.

"I was thinking we should probably restore our food supply soon. There isn't much left, and I don't know about you but I'm nearly out of monies," she told him letting her antennae fall as she continued to ponder over their next course of action.

"What should we do then…?" he asked letting his head rest against her as she continued stroking his horns. There was something soothing about this action… His muscles were relaxing on their own.

"Steal of course," she replied with a smile.

"From Food Courtia…?"

"No, that would be too bold, even for us," she stated. It would be too risky getting food supplies from the planet that the Resisty's base was orbiting. No… they needed a planet off the Armada's radar.

"We need some place further away… a planet that is populated, but the Tallest don't really care about."

"How about… Earth?" Lard Nar questioned.

"Earth…? Where is that?"

"The computer can find the exact coordinates…" he told her. "It's a blue planet… it's where I lost the Vortian battle ship during our first encounter with the Armada. After that happened, I got Spleenk to do a bit of research on that planet… there was no information on it."

"How do you know we can get supplies from it then?"

"Before I was forced to activate the shrinky self-destruct, our computer's bio-scanners picked up the signatures of at least seven billion alien life forms…" he tilted his head back so that he could see her expression.

"Ahh.. I see what you mean. That planet must have supplies then for that many aliens."

"Mm."

"But stealing from an unknown planet seems kind of immoral…" Miyuki said. She sighed before leaning back in her seat. "Maybe I could talk to their leaders and figure something out."

"And if they're hostile?"

"That's why I said I would do it Nar… if they're hostile, I don't want you or the Resisty anywhere near it."

"So… I drop you off there on some strange unknown land and leave?"

She nodded. "Yes, that sounds about right."

"I won't do it."

"Why not…?"

Lard Nar almost said something, but he stopped himself and lowered his gaze. He wasn't too sure why he didn't like this idea. It seemed ok; there would be no danger for him or the Resisty but…

Miyuki chuckled. "Oohh I see. You'd be worried about me."

"No I wouldn't!" he quickly argued pulling away from her startled.

"Uh huh…"

She was going to argue with him a little more, until she caught sight of something outside.

"We better get moving if we don't want to get sucked into that black hole," she stated, calmly pointing to the swirling mass of debris that was quickly growing larger as they were pulled into it.

Lard Nar grabbed the controls and set the boosters to their maximum level of output. The small ship jerked away from the black hole's pull, but this caused Lard Nar to lose control of the vessel. Luckily he was able to regain control before they crashed into anything, and they flew back to the base in silence.

When they landed, the base was active with the awakened Resisty members. Miyuki pulled on her hood as she and Lard Nar stepped out of the vessel. Shloonktapooxis was on the computer playing some kind of shooting game with the large three headed alien.

"Hey boss! Hi Miyuki!" Shloonktapooxis greeted cheerfully without even looking away from the monitor. "Where'd you guys go?"

"Get off that thing," Lard Nar said stepping over to the computer and getting in between the Resisty members and their game.

"Aww.." the floating purple cone looking alien pouted. "We were going to win that round you know."

The large Resisty member nodded all three of his heads in agreement.

Lard Nar ignored them as he began typing in the command for the computer to find the coordinates to planet Earth. He waited for it to download the file while the two Resisty members, and now Miyuki, stood behind him and watched.

When the numbers finally appeared on the screen, Lard Nar sighed. It was further away than he expected it to be…

"Oh boy!" Shloonktapooxis exclaimed. "Are we going somewhere? Can I go this time!? Pleeeeeeeease!?"

"Settle down Shloon…" Miyuki said. "We still need to figure a few things out before we're ready to leave."

"That's easy! You guys obviously want a romantic relationship with each other," he said smiling as always.

"What!?" Lard Nar snapped, and Miyuki stared at the floating alien strangely.

"Isn't that what you had to figure out?"

"Uhh.. no," Miyuki said still staring. "I mean we have to figure out how to get there still, especially if it's further away."

An akward silence followed. It was broken by Lard Nar who cleared his throat before speaking.

"Anyway… lets get ready to depart. I'll figure out the quickest route possible, though it will probably still take us a few weeks, if we're lucky."

While Lard Nar began making preparations, Miyuki and Shloonktapooxis were given the task of telling everyone about their new destination.

"I thought for sure you liked him though," Shloonktapooxis said as he floated along beside Miyuki.

"I'm not capable of feeling that way towards members of my own race," Miyuki informed him. "Why would you think I'd be able to feel it towards anyone else?"

"Hmm…" he thought for a moment before sticking out his tongue. "I dunno. Magic?"

Miyuki chuckled and shook her head. "Remember not to call me Miyuki in front of the refugees ok?"

"Riiight! I remember that now."

The door to the provision's room opened and the rescued slaves quickly gathered around Miyuki. She was their hero, but having so many gathered around her legs made walking very difficult. Fleeb smacked himself in the forehead. That's what he'd just told them not to do.

Spleenk was sitting at one of the tables, as well as Fleeb. Gelst was at his own table with three other Resisty members, and there were two more groups sitting around talking with each other.

"Ok everybody!" Shloonktapooxis called, gathering everyone's attention. "We're going to be heading out again today, so get ready!"

Spleenk got up and headed out, and he was soon followed by the other Resisty members. Gelst hissed as he passed by Miyuki, but she didn't retaliate this time. There were too many of Fleeb's people around her for her to do that safely.

Miyuki was about to leave with them, but she was stopped when one of the refugees tugged on her cloak. They wanted her to stay for a while. They got her to sit down and they crowed around her eagerly.

"We can't thank you enough for what you've done oh wonderous savior," Smikka remarked bowing his head.

"You saved us from those horrible Irkens…"

His body was covered in bruises and large burn scars. Some of them were from the battle, but Miyuki recognized that many of the scars where older.

"I want to see all of those Irkens burn in a fiery pit for what they did to us…" Smikka growled.

Miyuki tried not to react to such a cold remark. She gripped her cloak tightly and bit her lip to stop herself from saying something that would blow her cover.

"What about you?" one of the others asked. "How did you end up here…?"

"Did those monsters destroy your home planet too?"

"No," Miyuki replied, trying to make her voice sound raspy and less feminine, though she wasn't sure how well it was going to work.

"The shift of balance in the universe caused by these Irkens… I can't allow it."

"So you're going to kill them all dead right?" a smaller refugee asked.

"And become the same kind of monster as them!?" Miyuki roared standing from her chair, and this caused Fleeb's people to cower fearfully from her. She cleared her throat and sat back down.

"I will do no such thing… What I plan to do is capture their leaders… these "Tallest" as they're called. I will give them a chance to redeem themselves."

"What!?" Smikka shouted. "After everything they've done!? You obviously don't know what it's like to be a slave for the Irken Machine!"

"No I don't" Miyuki admitted leaning forward so that her haunting purple eyes stared into the eyes of the smaller alien.

"What they have done is terrible, and I don't plan to forgive them so easily… they will need to renounce their title as Tallest and be banished far away from their home planet," she sat back up and rolled her shoulders. "If they refuse my generous purposal, then I will destroy them!" She slammed her fist down on the table, causing a few of the closer refugees to jump.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. We are no where near defeating the Armada or capturing these Tallest."

She left Fleeb's people who stood in stunned silence. They had expected their savior to hate the Irkens as much as they did, but he didn't! Zastra didn't seem to have any personal grudges against the Tallest or the invaders at all.

**More notes:** Ah… romance and angst. Perfect. The crew is starting to notice too. The next chapter will have mainstream characters, like Dib, and Gir. Sorry if their appearance is a little weird, but I wrote this story out months ago, and that's what ended up happening.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's notes/disclaimer:** I actually wanted Zim and Dib to somehow be included in the plot, but I was never sure how to do it. Then it came to me. The Resisty's only ship was sucked into the Earth's atmosphere and destroyed, and Lard Nar would have remembered something that significant. And then there's the logic of "where there are billions of people, there has got to be suppies somewhere."

**Help From Earth**

"You see!? See!? Just look at the alien device on his desk! Zim is obviously an alien! Why can't you people see that!?" Dib shouted pointing an accusing finger at the purple cube thing with buttons and glowing green energy surrounding it.

Zim picked up his newest 'weapon of doom' and turned it around in his hands, trying to figure out what human device it resembled.

"This is no alien device!" Zim shouted standing up on his chair and holding his purple cube up for the whole class to see. "This is a normal human pencil sharpener!"

"Oh yeah! Prove it!" Dib exclaimed holding out a pencil to him. Zim looked at it oddly, but the whole class was watching them now. He swallowed, and took the pencil in his free hand. His eyes shifted from his weapon to the pencil while Dib folded his arms and grinned. This time he had Zim for sure!

The disguised Irken invader put the two objects together. There was a whirring noise as some of the gears protested againt the pencil, but when Zim pulled them apart, the pencil had been sharpened. Dib's jaw dropped and Zim stared at it strangely before hollaring loudly, "see!? The Dib lies!"

"Sit down Dib," Ms. Bitters instructed sounding annoyed. "And Zim, I'm confiscating that pencil sharpener."

"But why!?" Zim questioned loudly as the horrible teacher lady slithered over and snagged his weapon of doom.

"Because you annoy me, that's why."

Everyone in the class was giggling and whispering about the'crazy kid' as Dib slowly took his chair and rested his head in his arms. At least Skool was almost over. Then he could go and spy on Zim at his base.

The bell rang and the children poured out of the Skool. Dib found Gaz who was surprisingly not playing her GameSlave 2. She was always playing that thing, but recently she had bought Ultra-Vampire Piggy Slayer Extreme for the consol at home. Dib had missed many episodes of Mysterious Mysteries because of that stupid game…

"You better not talk to me on our walk home…" his little sister growled as she turned to leave.

"Yeah… sure."

There was a dark shadow hanging over the Skool, and Dib couldn't help hoping that it would rain, just to piss off Zim. Wait a minute… there were no clouds just a few minutes ago. He looked up to see a huge alien ship floating in the sky. He stared at it, and his mouth fell open.

"G… Gaz…?" he said.

"What did I just tell you?" Gaz questioned in a dark voice. She was already several feet ahead of him.

"But! In the sky!"

Some of the other children had stopped what they were doing and looked up at this strange floating thing hovering over the street. Two cloaked figures dropped down from it; one much taller than the other. They looked around the area before turning to each other.

"Why did we land here exactly…?" the smaller one asked sounding a little ticked off.

"Because there's a strange signal coming from around here, and I wanted to check it out," the taller one replied.

"But it's the middle of the day. We're going to start a panick."

The ship that had dropped them off slowly rose in the sky before vanishing back into space.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," the taller one said. "You really should learn to be more assertive. Not all ideas are good ones you know?"

Zim had only just stepped out of the Skool; he had spent a good amount of time scheming on how to get his device back, and to punish Dib for making him lose it in the first place.

"Huh…?" He looked around at everyone who was still staring up at the sky. There was nothing there. Odd… there were however two strangers dressed in cloaks standing in the middle of the road.

"Oh well… time to start another brilliant plan!" he exclaimed walking casually past them down the road towards his house. It was fortunate that both of the cloaked figures where too busy talking to each other to notice him, otherwise something horrible might have happened.

When the two figures realized that they were blocking traffic they moved to the sidewalk where Dib happened to be standing. He was awe struck. There were two more aliens, and they were standing right in front of him!

"What does your scanner say now?" the shorter one asked.

"The signal is coming from just down the street," the taller one replied. "But I wonder how we're going to get in contact with these creatures' leader… when the time comes I mean."

Dib was already starting to panick a little. There were two strange aliens standing on the side walk talking about how they wanted to find the president!

The taller figure suddenly noticed Dib, and it bent down a little to get a better look at the boy.

"Sorry to startle you earth-creature." The voice was clearly feminine. "We're not here to cause trouble or anything."

"W..what do you want with us?" Dib stammered. He wasn't sure how he should feel. This was wonderful! No wait… it was horrible! What if they were planning on destroying the Earth too!?

"You speak a similar language. This is good; it will speed things up. You can call me Zastra, and him," she gestured to her partner. "His name is Nar."

"Lard Nar," he corrected.

"We were wondering if you creatures would be willing to help us with something."

"Really?" Dib questioned excitedly. "You want us to help you!? Wait… this doesn't have anything to do with taking over the Earth does it? Because I'm not going to let you do that!"

"Of course not," Miyuki replied. "Why would you think that?"

"Well… it's just that Zim…"

Lard Nar's eyes narrowed. "Zim is here!?"

"You know him?"

"I wish I didn't," The Vortian spat. It was his fault Miyuki had been devoured… if that didn't happen, Miyuki would still be the Tallest and everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

"Ah yes… Zim," Miyuki said playing along with her role of 'Zastra,' only she had toned it down a lot more. She was no longer trying to mask her voice or pretend to be a mysterious figure of doom… there was no need to do that when they were trying to form a relationship with the planet.

"Didn't you tell me about him once?" she asked shifting her gaze to Lard Nar. "Wasn't he some kind of horrible Irken scientist who killed his Tallest at one time?"

"You make it sound too simple…" Lard Nar murmured.

"Wait… Zim killed his leaders!? But I thought his leaders were the ones that sent him here!" Dib exclaimed.

"Everything dies eventually," was Miyuki's reply. "Anyway, the reason we're here is because we need a few things… it doesn't look like your technology is very advanced, but that's ok."

"Need things?" Dib questioned. "What would… wait! You aren't explaining yourself very well at all!"

"That's because I just saw an adult of your species," she answered pointing at a man who had just stepped out of his car. "Sorry Earth-smeet. I didn't mean to trouble you."

She stood up straight and stretched.

"We really should have done our research before coming here," Lard Nar told her.

"You techies always say that…" Miyuki spoke shaking her head. "If I called this 'field study' would that make you feel better?"

"Wait wait!" Dib shouted, and he got in there way as they started to leave, startling them both.

"Maybe I can help you! My dad is a really important person on Earth! He speaks to the Earth leaders all the time!"

"Uhh…" Miyuki turned to Lard Nar who glanced up at her and shrugged. Her mind had been mulling over a different plan since finding out Zim was on this planet. They didn't know if they would be able to eat the Earth's food, but if Zim was here there must be a way he was getting food from Irk.

If she happened to see familiar provisions on Earth, then she would ask about them. She wasn't too sure if Earth could do much when it came to fighting though. Slow moving land vehicles, wired lighting, there were no well equipped machinary anywhere.

It would be a miracle if these people had even managed to get into space at all…

"You say you know Zim?" she said changing the subject. The boy nodded.

"Help us break into his base, and we'll see about speaking with your father after that ok?"

"Will you admit to being aliens?"

"Sure," she shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?"

Lard Nar tugged on her cloak and she bent down to listen.

"Are you crazy? These people are obviously ignorant!" he gestured to the children in the skool yard who had gone back to whatever they had been doing before the ship appeared in the sky. They must have shrugged it off as some kind of natural occurance.

"How will they react if they discover we're from another planet!?"

"They'll have to learn eventually. I mean if Zim is here they are already in danger," she looked at Dib who was watching them eagerly.

"What's your name earth-smeet?"

"It's Dib."

"Dib? Alright, show us to Zim's base so that we may break in and access his computers."

Scanning planet… uploading time… it is 14.10 hours Earth time. One of Miyuki's antennae twitched beneath her hood.

She, Lard Nar, and Dib were standing outside of a strange looking purple house. Lawn gnomes decorated the front yard, and Miyuki could see that their eyes acted as sense receptors. As soon as they stepped onto the yard, their presence would be known. Of course, her pak decided to take this opportunity to start informing her about the time again.

The human child had fallen into a long rant about Zim's security system. Lard Nar looked like he was just about ready to strangle the Earth creature.

"I managed to get into his underground lab a few times though, usually because his robot lets me in… that thing is really strange. I mean Zim is strange, but that robot is a whole different kind of strange."

"Well, lets get to work," Miyuki suggested summoning one of her spider legs and shooting out the gnomes with the laser on the end. She used the same device to burn a nice hole in the door and slip inside. Lard Nar and Dib followed after her a little more carefully. The Vortian's eyes widened when he saw the S.I.R unit sitting on the couch. Miyuki was no where to be seen, but Dib seemed to be treating Gir with caution. The human slowly approached the little robot who blinked and tilted its head when its veiw from the TV was suddenly blocked.

"Hiiiiii!! I'm watchin the monkey!" Gir said loudly as it jumped to its feet. "Wanna watch with mee!?"

"Uh… no…" Dib replied as the robot attached to his head grinning. "Actually, I was wondering if you could take us down stairs."

"We got no stairs!!" Gir screeched. "I got a piggy though! Wanna see!?"

"No, just take us down the elevator then."

He hadn't brought any of his spy gear with him, and he knew from experience that the computer wouldn't activate the elevator for a human.

"Okie dokie!" Gir replied. It jumped off, and the couch flipped up. Dib had done this before. He moved to stand beside Gir that was sticking its tongue out; its eyes curved happily.

"You… trust that thing..?" Lard Nar questioned pointing at the S.I.R.

"I'm gunna sing elevator music!" Gir announced.

"No… but there isn't too many other ways of getting to Zim's underground base," Dib answered. "Believe me, I've tried all the other ways I can think of."

Lard Nar slowly stepped onto the platform which started descending almost imidiately.

"Doo dee doo doo doo doo doo dee doo doo doo dee," Gir sang rocking back and forth. The tube they were traveling down showed them glimpses into other rooms. There was a weapons room, and another room with a giant three eyed grizzly bear which roared angrily and lunged at them.

Dib didn't flinch at this, but Lard Nar recoiled from the snarling beast and nearly crashed into the Earth child.

"Yeah… last time it was a giant mutated demon squid," Dib said. Maybe he was getting a little too used to Zim's crazy plans for world domination..

The platform stopped descending and a door slid open revealing a very large room. At the center of this room stood Miyuki her hands on the artificial intelligence brain. She hoped that what she learned in the science field on Vort would help her in messing up the brain well enough to deactivate the security measures.

"Wow! I've never been in this room before!" Dib exclaimed. He was standing in front of the data beam which was sending waves of blue energy coursing through the download conduit.

"I ate a chicken!" Gir shrieked.

"Did you destroy Zim?" Lard Nar questioned Miyuki as he did his best to ignore the S.I.R.

"No no," she answered as she placed the lid back down and wiped her hands on her cloak. "I just knocked him unconscious in one of the upper rooms. His pak will revive him eventually."

"How did you get down here so fast?" Dib suddenly asked turning away from the data beam.

"Advanced alien technology," she replied. In truth, she knew the layout of an invader's base thanks to being a former Tallest… She had found the nearest way to the underground labs, using her pak to climb through the crevices outside the elevator shaft.

"Chicken!" Gir exclaimed bouncing up and down.

Dib glared at the small robot, and it stuck its tongue out happily.

"You can go away now."

"Maaaybe I will," the robot said looking around the room before settling its glowing blue eyes back on the boy.

"But you gotta dance with me first!"

"I am not dancing with you."

"Awww… ok."

Gir opened up its head, took out a large slurpee, and began sucking noisily on the straw while Lard Nar just stared at it in disbelief. First the Massive had gone crazy, and now this S.I.R. was acting abnormally…

"All right," Miyuki said landing lightly next to Lard Nar. This room was anti-gravity for the most part making it fairly easy to move around. At the center of the room was the odd shaped purple device that held the brain, but around it was a path that led all the way around but didn't connected to the center.

"Are you sure you programmed it correctly?" the Vortian asked her.

She smiled beneath her hood. "Program…? You mean with the panel? I didn't touch that thing."

"Then... what did you do?"

"I tampered with the brain directly."

"Wait… what will that do?" Dib asked.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Gir squealed.

"Do you even know what could happen!? What sections did you tamper with!?" Lard Nar questioned loudly.

"Just the temporal and the occipital lobe," Miyuki replied raising her hands defensively. "This should hopefully keep us from any traps or other security in the house."

"Hopefully…?" Lard Nar questioned holding his head. "You should have used the panel."

"I don't know how to use the panel," she stated with a hint of stubbornness in her voice. "Trying to work that thing would have meant a risk of causing some kind of horrible explosion."

"You had one bad experience, and now you think every piece of machinery is going to explode?"

"No, I blew up four devices; the first two before I became Tal-a diplomat and the second two more horrible ones happened while I was a diplomat," she replied turning towards the doors. A horrible slip of the tongue had been corrected; it was time to locate the computers.

"Computer, take us to the base's control room." She ordered, and the elevator doors opened.

Dib, Miyuki, Lard Nar and Gir piled in and rode it the floor one level lower.

"Doo doo doo doo dee doo doo doo dee doo!" Gir sang cheerfully.

"Why is that thing still here?" Lard Nar questioned; the tone of his voice reflecting his irritation.

The S.I.R unit was the first one to exit the elevator when the doors slid open revealing a room that Dib recognized. He had been here before. Wires were sticking out from the floor and ceiling, and a ramp slid out as they moved forward towards the large computer screen that was attached with metallic tubes to the wall.

"I'll leave this up to you," Miyuki said looking to Lard Nar who sighed as he moved forward and began using the few controls to sift through Zim's files.

Dib watched distracted, glancing up at Miyuki every once and a while. He couldn't help wondering what these aliens looked like underneath their cloaks. Hopefully they would keep their promise and reveal themselves when this was over, but Dib wasn't about to get too hopeful.

"So… which planet do you come from?" Dib asked her.

"I haven't had a home planet in over a hundred years… I've been wandering around the universe I guess you could say."

"That's so cool; I hope I can do that one day," Dib admitted, and he began pondering whether or not he should tell her about Tak's ship or not.

"I have an alien ship you know." He had decided to tell her. "It doesn't fly yet, but I'm working to fix it."

"Really?" She asked not sure whether she should be interested in this bit of information or not. It really didn't concern her, but the earth child seemed excited.

"Yeah, it's functional, but I just can't figure out how to get it off the ground."

Lard Nar's hands stopped when he stumbled upon something in Zim's contacts… Prisoner 777? Zim had established a link to one of the holding cells in Vort. This new information angered him, but it wasn't all that surprising.

"Prisoner 777?" Miyuki questioned after reading the large words on the screen. "That's a long distance contact isn't it?"

"Yes," Lard Nar replied absently. He was still trying to trace where Zim was getting his provisions from. There had only been one call to Vort, so the food was probably coming from somewhere else. There it was… all shipments were being made straight from Irk. He quickly placed an order which would arrive in a secret location on Food Courtia to be picked up by them later on.

Hopefully Shloonktapooxis remembered to come back for him and Miyuki… if Gelst started a revolt while he was gone; he was going to be fairly ticked off to say the least.

"Alright," Lard Nar said as the screen went black. "We're done in here. Lets go, you can contact the ship's communication."

"Hey wait a minute," Dib said; his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "We had a deal."

"I didn't make any deals," Lard Nar stated.

"I did," Miyuki remarked raising her hand before turning to Dib. "Show me to this 'father' of yours."

Gir yawned and stood up stretching. It had suddenly fallen asleep, but now it was awake again.

"Gimme tacooos!!" it squealed.

If only it was that easy to make it out of an Irken base… Upon regaining consciousness however, Zim used on of the upstairs devices to release the killer grizzly bear from its prison. The thing crashed around until the elevator rose to its level, and it lunged, grabbing the elevator and tearing a large chunk out of it.

Lard Nar, Dib, Gir and Miyuki pressed themselves against the far wall as the creature roared and swiped at them with its deadly claws. It was too large to fit its body in the small space, but it thrust its head in and snapped angrily at the intruders.

"You should have killed him!" Lard Nar shouted as a screen appeared with Zim's face on it.

"You thought you could escape the mighty Zim!?" He exclaimed before laughing insanely.

The bear had an alien device embedded in its brain, forcing it to remain at a highly aggressive state. The elevator was busted; they were trapped.

"Hang on… I'll take care of this," Miyuki said releasing her mechanical legs as she sprang at the creature. Gir cheered much to Zim's annoyance.

"Gir! What are you doing with those filthy trespassers!?" he demanded.

"I have no ideaaaa!" Gir shrieked.

Horrible sounds of slashing and tearing flesh caused Lard Nar to shudder. It was just a brainless monster, he reminded himself, but seeing the blood flying through the air as the beast wailed in pain…

Dib was watching wide eyed, fascinated by the alien's power.

The beast crashed to the floor; crimson blood pooling beneath its battered body. One last groan came from its mouth before its muscles slackened, and Miyuki's spider like mechanics disappeared back into her pak. Somehow, most of her cloak had managed to stay intact during the skirmish, though she was covered head to toe in blood.

Zim had recognized the devices she used… he stared for a while, struck speechless (which didn't happen very often) before hollering at her. "That's Irken technology isn't it!?"

Gir was rolling around in the blood that had spilled on the floor laughing giddily.

"That was amazing!" Dib exclaimed, and he was surprised when Miyuki lifted him up onto her shoulder.

"Sorry, but you'll probably be too slow to keep up with me," she said before turning to Lard Nar who raised his hands as he glared defiantly at Miyuki.

"Oh no you're not…" he said evenly. She didn't listen of course.

"You won't get away with this Dib!" Zim shouted believing that this intrusion was the boy's fault. "Zim… uh… knows where you live!"

Miyuki carried them both out of the base which she was able to navigate through fairly quickly. She stopped only once they reached the street outside Zim's house, and she let them both down before taking time to catch her breath.

Feeling a little worn out, she sat down on the curb and took out the communicator which was attached to her pak. The device picked up the Resisty's signal, and she told them to start heading back.

**More notes:** Hopefully I was able to keep everyone in character somewhat... That's what I worry about when ever I write something involving the main characters. Since Miyuki wasn't in the show at all, (darn Nick cancelled it before the Trial episode) she doesn't really have a personality so to speak. I think it's interesting that some of the other fics including her show her as a powerful if not devious and a bit of a flirtatious ruler. I thought making her confident, but not all knowing would help the fic flow along.

Smeets were still born in test-tubes during her time after all. (I wink)


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's notes:** Too much work writing notes... you already know I don't own Invader Zim or Jhonen.. I'll just leave it at that for today.

**Kill for You**

Water falling from the sky…? Lard Nar blinked as he looked out the window of the Dib-human's house. There was a slightly smaller human, probably female; sitting in the living room playing with a device hooked up to something called a television. It was primitive technology at best, the Vortian decided. He had quickly grown bored of the violent video game and had retreated into the kitchen to wait for Miyuki.

They were downstairs; Dib, Miyuki, and apparently the father. Supposedly there was some kind of human lab down there, but Lard Nar wasn't curious enough to see it. He could already tell from the technology he'd seen so far on this planet that any kind of human laboratory would wane in comparison to any lab on Vort.

He sighed and dipped his head a little so that he was now looking at the tiled floor. Hopefully she wouldn't take too long and they could leave… the Resisty's ship should have gotten a lock on her signal by now. They'd be here soon.

The small human that had been sitting in the living room paused her game to grab a soda out of the fridge, seething after failing to beat level thirty four for the third timethat day. At first, it appeared that Gaz was going to head straight back into the living room, but she didn't. Instead she stood behind Lard Nar who was still gazing out the window.

"I don't understand why you would waste your time here," she said.

"My friend made a deal with that human Dib," Lard Nar replied without turning around.

"No… I mean with Earth. It's a pretty crumby planet."

"We needed supplies."

"You must have been pretty desperate."

"Earth doesn't seem so bad," he admitted turning now to look at Gaz. "It's your home at least, so why are you saying those things?"

"You haven't been here long enough to realize how stupid everything is," was her reply as she headed back into the living room.

The door to the human's lab flung open revealing a tall human dressed in a long white lab coat stepped out. He took a quick look around his kitchen, noting Lard Nar as Miyuki and Dib appeared in the doorway behind him.

"Well they don't look like holograms," Professor Membrane admitted. "And I don't think I'm hallucinating! But for someone just to admit that they're an alien… Son! Where did you find these people!? Not at the asylum I hope!"

"She's telling the truth!" Dib argued. "They really are aliens."

Professor Membrane shook his head, unwilling to believe. With a sigh, Miyuki dropped her hood (which was still covered in blood) and looked smartly at the human who was only a little taller than her. Purple eyes reflected in the human's glasses, and he let out a startled gasp. Her skin was green, but that could be a normal skin condition… still, there was no way to explain the antennae or her unusual eyes.

"Human, your planet could be in danger from my people," she told him sternly. "Now listen to this boy."

"Hey! You're from the same species as Zim!" Dib exclaimed almost as surprised as his father was, but for different reasons of course. Both Zim and Tak were Irken, and both had tried to take over the Earth in some horrible way or another… it didn't really make sense that someone that was from the same species as them would want to help the Earth.

"Yes, I am."

"Figures…" Gaz muttered as her fingers played with the controls for her game.

"Miyuki," Lard Nar said pulling down his hood so that he could glare up at her. "Why did you do that? If the Tallest find out, you'll be dragged off to Judgementia or something…"

"I know," she replied. "But this man was being stubborn."

She pointed an accusing finger at Professor Membrane who was regaining his bearings.

"Alright! So assuming there will be some sort of horrible alien invasion of some kind…" Professor Membrane began scratching his chin in thought. "We're going to have to be ready! I'll begin researching intergalactic travel right now!"

He moved past Miyuki and Dib and disappeared back into his lab; the door slammed shut behind him.

"Yes! My father finally believes me!" Dib exclaimed. He couldn't believe it! This was the best thing that could happen. His father was an important figure, so everyone would listen to him. It wouldn't be long now before Zim was exposed, and the Earth would finally be safe.

"He won't by tomorrow," Lard Nar remarked. He had been studying the human carefully, and from his behaviour, the Vortian had concluded that the human would probably decide it was an illusion or some sort of mind trick if there was no longer any viable proof. "That human doesn't want to believe it… I can tell."

"That's why I'm going to leave my communicator behind." Miyuki replied calling the device from her pak. She detached it from the metal arm and handed it to Dib who stared at it for a while. He couldn't believe he was actually being given alien technology.

"Come to think of it… that's the second communicator I've given away," Miyuki said thinking back to the first one that Lard Nar had used to enhance the Resisty computer's range.

"Attach it to a large power source to boost its range," Lard Nar explained, and he gestured to two places on the device. "This is where the connectors are; they're adaptable, but they probably won't work with your technology."

"What about an Irken ship?" Dib asked.

"That will work."

"There's just one thing I don't get," Dib admitted looking up at Miyuki. "If you're the same species as Zim, why aren't you trying to take over the Earth too?"

"I'm not a part of the Irken conquest." Miyuki answered. "Earth isn't the only planet in danger of being taken over by Irk, and since I've been absent for so long, I wasn't assigned a place anywhere on my planet." She paused before adding, "Besides, I've always preferred a more diplomatic approach to things."

"Wow, and here I was starting to think that all Irkens were… well… violent and stupid."

"Well I am covered in blood," Miyuki reminded the boy. She looked to the floor and suddenly realized the nice little trail of crimson she had made thanks to the blood that had soaked into her cloak. It was still dripping.

"I better get this stuff off of me," she decided heading for the door.

Lard Nar and Dib both turned to each other. They were thinking the same thing…

"Wait, won't the rain, uh… burn you or something!?" Dib questioned.

"Probably," she replied as she stepped out of the house. She placed the hood over her head and stepped away from the building out into the rain. The liquid began soaking into the fabric; the blood dripping into the wet cement was quickly washed away.

Her thoughts began to wander back to Irk and Vort… The brightly lit labs of Vort and tall metal structures of Irk filled with all sorts of technology. She wanted to return to her home.

This must be how Nar feels… she realized shaking her head sadly. She raised her arms and spun around, allowing the water to rush over her, washing the blood stains from her cloak. Her skin was starting to smoke, and she bit her lip as the pain began to grow. _Soon_, she thought, _soon they would be able to return to where they belonged._

From inside, she looked as though she was dancing. Dib and Lard Nar stood side by side watching her movements until suddenly she stopped and collapsed to the ground. The Vortian was the first to rush out of the house and stand at her side. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes; they were looking past him.

"Come back inside Miyuki," he said. "You're clean enough."

"Oh..?" she blinked and stood up, forcing Lard Nar to take a few steps back.

"I must have been day dreaming. Sorry."

Suddenly the rain stopped falling, and the rumbling of a ship's engines filled the air as the Resisty's ship descended through the clouds, blocking the water from reaching the earth over top of Lard Nar and Miyuki. They were beamed aboard, and both landed awkwardly on the floor of the vessel, still dripping wet much to Miyuki's discomfort.

"Weeell, how'd it go?" Schloonktapooxis asked hovering over top of them.

"Just fine," Lard Nar replied as he stood and brushed himself off. "I'll be sending you to Food Courtia to pick up a package once we reach the base."

Miyuki sat up and pulled her hood down; her antennae were pressed flat against her head. She didn't realize how bad water could burn. It felt like acid, but at least most of the blood had been washed out of her cloak so she didn't have to throw it away.

"I better get out of these clothes before I lose any more skin," she said getting to her feet before heading to one of the smaller rooms in the back. Luckily she had decided to bring her old robes a long in case something happened to the outfit she was wearing.

"Are you ok!?" Shloonktapoxis asked loudly. He was floating outside the room Miyuki was getting changed in. He was a little worried that the water seemed to have hurt her.

"I'll be fine," she answered as she peeled the wet clothes from her body. She found the robes she had kept hidden underneath a metal bed frame and pulled them over her head.

"Are you suuure!?"

"Yes, Schloon, don't worry about it. Water only irritates our skin a little bit. I'll be fine in a couple minutes."

After straightening out some of the wrinkles, she opened the door, and Schloonktapooxis hovered backwards to allow her enough space to walk passed him.

"You should have told me that water burns you," the floating purple cone whined. "I could have gotten Spleenk to figure out how to transport you in without the water."

"Why are you worried so much?" Miyuki questioned squinting at the strange alien.

"Because I figured out what a female is."

"Irken females are just as strong as Irken males," she informed him. "It's not like I'm carrying a smeet or anything. My species hasn't procreated like that for centuries."

"Ohhh!" Schloonktapooxis exclaimed sticking out his tongue.

They left the Earth behind as they flew into the deep reaches of space. Spleenk was the ship's navigator; he kept them from flying into worm holes and other such hazards. The green bug-like creature was at the ship's controls, and so was the three headed Resisty member, and the strange smiling blob thing. Lard Nar of course was sitting in the captain's chair…

The Jacker's war ship was similar to Vort's, but the room was much smaller. There were no other floors, and the only way you could tell the captain's chair from the others was from the lack of controls and its slightly elevated position.

Gelst was watching small clumps of space debris fly past the windshield. He stood near the window with his arms folded across his chest. For one reason or another, he was being awfully quiet. His body shook as he let out a rasping cough. His eyes lowered a little. He wasn't feeling well.

They stopped the ship near a large clump of asteroids which were moving slowly through space. The Jacker's ship had force fields to block most debris from damaging the vessel, but the extra protection made Lard Nar feel more secure.

There were only three rooms with one bed each, though they were large enough for two Resisty members to share. Spleenk had volunteered to sleep in the control room on their way to Earth, and he volunteered to do it again on the way back to avoid any awkward situations, and Shloonktapooxis always insisted that he could use the floor instead of a bed.

While the Resisty members had this all too important discussion, Miyuki stood at a distance watching them with little interest. It didn't matter to her who slept where or with whom, except Lard Nar seemed to like having her in the same room as him. She wouldn't like it if Gelst was there… he annoyed her, but as the captain Lard Nar could decide where everyone went.

Gelst and Shloonktapooxis were selected to share a room together, and since Shloonktapooxis would be on the floor it was agreed that the green insect-like alien would also share the room. The large three headed Resisty member was paired up with the scary looking blob creature, leaving Lard Nar with a room to himself. He let out a sigh, relieved that the little problem had been taken care of before heading to bed.

Everyone else trailed behind him, leaving Spleenk and Miyuki alone in the control room. She watched long enough to see which room Lard Nar went in before turning to her company.

"I heard you saw the picture I had back at the base," Spleenk began, and he kept his eyes lowered so he couldn't see her expression.

"That was my mate; Tiya… she died two weeks after the photo was taken."

"Because of the Irken invasion," Miyuki said, and Spleenk nodded.

"I didn't want to say anything…" he admitted scratching the back of his head. "I thought it might upset you or something…"

"Aren't you upset?"

"Of course," Spleenk replied raising his eyes to meet hers. "It hurts everyday waking up and realizing that she's not there… but I'm not going to let the sadness get to me. If I did that, then I've lost, right?"

"You are very strong Spleenk…" Miyuki said as she came up beside him and rested her hand on his shoulder. "I'm surprised you don't hate me for what my people did to you..."

Spleenk shook his head slowly before uttering a sigh. "There's no reason to hate you Miyuki… you never did anything to me." He smiled a funny crooked smile. "Actually, you're a pretty good friend to have. I'm glad I met you."

Miyuki blinked, surprised by Spleenk's words. He had called her a friend? Irkens didn't really have friends, but from what she learned as Tallest, to be called friend was considered a great honour for other races.

"Thank you Spleenk… I'm happy to have met you too."

"Well, I guess I better get some shut-eye," he said stretching all four of his arms over his head before taking a seat in the captain's chair. Lard Nar wouldn't mind.

"Good night Miyuki. Tomorrow we'll start out again, hey; maybe I can teach you how to pilot the ship so you can fly it yourself? How does that sound?"

"You'd better ask Nar first," she replied giving him a knowing look.

"Ha ha, yeah, I guess so."

Miyuki left the control room and walked the short length of the hallway, stopping at the second door she came to. She knocked once.

"Come in," Lard Nar called, and the doors slid open.

She stepped inside, and there was a click as the entrance closed its self behind her.

The Vortian was sitting in the center of the bed in his pyjamas. His goggles were lying on the floor, and he appeared to be reading something. It was Shloonktapooxis' report of everything that had happened when he and Miyuki had been on Earth. Apparently Spleenk "accidentally" pushed a button that opened a hatch in the ceiling during one of Gelst's long tangents. The Resisty member had been swept into space, and thus the reason he was now suffering from illness.

Lard Nar chuckled and shook his head before turning his attention to Miyuki.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," she replied sighing. "Shloonktapooxis is kind of strange you know. He wouldn't leave me alone because I was female or something silly like that."

"It says here in the report that Spleenk told him about females and how they carry smeets."

"I'll have to thank him for that later," she said jokingly, and she sat on the edge of his bed.

"You seem to be getting better with the whole mechanical legs thing. That's good. Maybe I'll be able to climb on the ceiling again soon."

"When you took them out the last time, you had them pointed at a monster," he stated as he leaned over and place the report neatly on the floor. "If you were crawling around on the ceiling, I would probably freak out again. It wouldn't take too much effort on your part to drop down and cut off my head with those things."

"Wow…" she said blinking. " I wasn't expecting sudden brutal honesty… but you know I wouldn't do that. I mean, it doesn't take that much effort to call them from my pak either. You could blink, and they would already be extended."

"You wouldn't…" Lard Nar murmured lowering his eyes.

"That's what I'm saying Nar. I wouldn't drop down and kill someone from the ceiling either."

"I just want to avoid the possibility…"

"Why on Irk would I do that?" she questioned looking at him sceptically. "Because I'm Irken? I'd need more reason than that to kill someone."

"Like…?"

"Like if someone was trying to kill you maybe?" she replied; her antennae pressed flat against her head. "Why do we always end up talking about this kind of thing when we're alone together?"

"I… I'm sorry," Lard Nar said. "It's my fault. I keep letting my thoughts slip out."

He needed the members of the Resisty to see him has a strong and capable leader, that's why the only one he ever talked to about his fears was Spleenk, and now Miyuki. For some reason, it seemed right telling her how he felt about Irkens even though she was an Irken herself.

Maybe he had been a little too forceful… She was Irken. She didn't need to hear the thoughts of a small inferior Vortian but then… His eyes widened when he realized what she had just told him.

"You would… kill someone if they were trying to kill me…?" he questioned unsurely.

"Yes, there is a good chance I would," she replied tilting her head a little.

He was startled. His mouth fell open a little as his mind raced to make sense of what this meant. She would kill someone if they were trying to kill him?

"Did I say something disturbing?" Miyuki asked; her eyes watching him curiously.

"No… not really, just unexpected," he answered.

She smiled and raised her antennae a little. "I guess we're even then."

Lard Nar was about to say something back, but he decided against it. Instead he rested his head against the pillow and turned to face the wall. She didn't understand what it meant to risk your life for someone else… maybe that's why she said "probably." An Irken could never feel anything towards someone of another species, could they?


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's notes: **I decided I can't stop updating a fic just because I don't know what to put in the notes, so here I am again, after a month or so… and yeah. Sorry about that long pause there. I decided to start working on other stuff and I got distracted.

**Coming Together**

A week had gone by with little problems. There were no Irken ships flying through this part of the universe, and everyone was in relatively good spirits after they learned that Lard Nar and Miyuki had secured them some provisions which were to be delivered and kept at Food Courtia (with the exception of Gelst who was only becoming more ill).

During the day, Lard Nar would hardly say anything to Miyuki, but at night he would tell her a little bit about his time as a scientist and how he had started the Resisty. He seemed to avoid talking about the Irken invasion and the miraculous escape he had made from Vort, and when she told him this, he would become silent and refuse to speak anymore.

One such night, Miyuki was sitting at the end of his bed mulling over that day's horrible flying accident which was partially her fault. Spleenk had started showing her some of the controls and what they did, unfortunately this meant that he wasn't navigating or looking at the navigational screen at all, so they ended up flying into a sun. It was very lucky for them that the heat shields were up; otherwise they all would have been burned alive.

"I can't believe he would do something so stupid!" Lard Nar exclaimed falling into bed and burying his head underneath the pillow.

"You didn't throw him out the airlock did you?"

Spleenk sent her away before Lard Nar started yelling at him, so Miyuki didn't know what happened afterwards.

"Of course not…" the Vortian replied. "I just yelled at him a lot…then relieved him of his navigational duties."

"It was partially my fault you know."

"How..? He was the one who started showing you the controls. You didn't even accept his proposal."

"But I was standing there doing nothing in the control room."

"Oh…" Lard Nar cleared his throat as he uncovered his head. "Well… it's been dealt with anyway."

She wanted to disagree, but while she was a part of the Resisty, Lard Nar was technically her captain as well. With a sigh, she decided to let the topic drop.

"How about our next course of action…?" she questioned. "After we get the supplies, we're going to have to continue with strong acts of resistance."

"Yeah, I actually had an idea about that," Lard Nar said moving a little closer to Miyuki so he wouldn't have to talk as loud. "You know how they send invaders to the different planets right? I was thinking that we should start there. If we get rid of the invaders, then no new planets will fall to the Irken Empire."

"Define "get rid of" and I'll see if I agree with you or not."

"Well… I uh… haven't really thought that far ahead yet…"

"Fine, I'll believe you," she told him as she rose to her feet. "I'll stop speaking now so you can get some sleep."

"That's ok," Lard Nar said sitting close to where she'd been. He let his legs dangle over the side of the bed. He wasn't tired yet; actually, he had gotten a lot more sleep recently now that his nightmares didn't keep waking him in the middle of the night.

"We can talk for a bit longer."

"Alright, then tell me about the Irken invasion on Vort," Miyuki stated folding her arms and narrowing one of her eyes at him. He stared blankly at her for a while as the room drifted into an uncomfortable silence. She expected him to crawl back into bed and go to sleep to avoid the topic, but he didn't.

Instead he bit his lip and began toying with his hands in an uncomfortable manner.

"Do you promise not to say anything to anyone else…?" he whispered. "Not even Dorik knows completely what happened… and he was there… in the labs with me…"

"Dorik?" Miyuki questioned, and Lard Nar raised his eyes to meet hers.

"The three headed guy, you know… He was there when you toured the labs on Vort."

"I thought that he kind of looked familiar…" Miyuki replied placing a thoughtful claw on her chin. "He doesn't say very much though."

"Yeah, he's been like that for as long as I can remember."

He lowered his head as he tried to gather his scattered memories. A part of him was screaming not to trust her, and why should he say anything? She didn't need to know. It wouldn't further the Resisty anyway.

Miyuki sat back down beside him and waited patiently for him to continue. She was having similar thoughts; why should he tell her anything? Of course she had been wondering about the invasion on Vort since she had first learned about it, but Lard Nar didn't have to tell her.

"Do you remember the invader's name?"

"How could I forget…?" Lard Nar muttered. "His name was Larb. I learned after Vort was taken from us of course… he disguised himself and went by another name while he was infiltrating our planet."

"I'm guessing he had a fairly good disguise."

"That's why we didn't see it coming… usually Irkens have horrible disguises, but he used a device that was in the testing stage at the time. It produced a hologram over the entire body, but it was discontinued when it was discovered that long exposures to the device's impulse waves caused the wearer to have seizures," he tilted his head back and laughed. "Larb died, and all of those devices were sent to planet Dirt to be destroyed." He cleared his throat. "That's no consolation of course, but for a brief moment it felt like the gods were on our side, you know?"

"Gods?"

"It's a dead belief on Vort… we use it more for exclamation than anything."

"Oh… I think I understand. We do the same with 'Control Brains' sometimes, only they're not dead."

Lard Nar nodded before continuing with the story.

"It took him six months to bring down Vort. We noticed that our technology was being tampered with, but we were able to repair the damages fairly quickly… it later became clear that ruining our technology had only been a decoy. Larb had tunnelled into our planet's core and planted a device that enveloped the entire planet in horrible energy waves. We were all trapped. Our computers and other machinery were stopped. He alerted the Armada fairly quickly I guess, because it was only four days later that the Massive led the final canon sweep across Vort's surface. They did it to decrease our numbers to a more manageable size…

There were once over two billion Vortians, now there are only a couple thousand…"

His voice wavered even though he fought to hide his emotions. He was trying to make it sound like a list of facts; something that had happened and that was all, but it was deeper than that. This was his home planet he was speaking about.

Miyuki recognized the pain in his voice, and she placed her arm around him and drew him closer to her so that his head rested against her body. He didn't say anything for a while. Her robes were soft, and he felt comfortable resting against her.

"Why do you do this…?" he questioned; his voice was barely above a whisper. His fingers gripped the smooth fabric as he looked up at her; Miyuki's antennae were resting limply, but her eyes remained ever vigilant, watching the shadows that played about the room. The temperature was falling…

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Miyuki questioned, and Lard Nar slowly shook his head no.

"It's just… I've never known an Irken to be this…" Gentle. His eyes were beginning to drift shut. If he stayed like this, he was going to fall asleep.

That was the last thing he remembered thinking before everything faded to black.

The room was cold; his hands clutched the soft fabric as he drew himself closer for warmth. He sighed contently before his eyes snapped open and he found himself snuggled against Miyuki who was watching him with a bemused look on her face. He let out a startled yelp and pulled away which caused him to fall off the bed.

"Did I fall asleep?" Lard Nar wondered out loud as he picked himself up off the floor. He pulled one of his horns back into placed before turning to Miyuki. She was still sitting in the exact same place as last night.

"You fell asleep in mid sentence," she informed him, and she smiled down at the Vortian who stared at her in disbelief. "It was pretty cute actually."

"Cute? What?" He backed away a little, eyeing her cautiously. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You're saying strange things!"

"It's not that strange," she said rising from the bed. "Anyway, it's 9.34 hours according to the time measurements of that large purple planet we passed by yesterday. Most of the crew is probably awake."

Lard Nar groaned. He should have been up hours ago! They were never going to make it back to the base on the rations they had if they continued travelling this slowly.

"Get out, I need to get dressed," he said waving her towards the door.

She wandered into the control room; Spleenk was eating snacks with Shloonktapooxis, and everyone else was sitting at the controls waiting for their captain to tell them to move out. There was only one member missing; Gelst, he hadn't come out of his room.

"I think he's getting worse," Spleenk remarked as he came up beside Miyuki. She was looking down the hallway, at the door she had seen Gelst pass through the night before. It was funny how Spleenk seemed to have forgotten that it was mostly his fault that Gelst was this sick.

"Will he be ok?" she asked raising her antennae as she shifted her eyes to Spleenk.

"Ehh…" he scratched his head. "Well apparently his kind doesn't handle sickness very well."

"Why is that?"

"It's his species; their bodies aren't built to fight off disease."

"Should I watch him?"

"Hn?" Spleenk blinked.

"Should I keep an eye on him in case his condition becomes fatal?"

"Oh… yeah, if you can handle doing that, maybe it would be for the best."

She walked back down the short hallway, passing Lard Nar's room before coming to a stop in front of Gelst's. She knocked once and waited. There was no response. She tried again, but there was still no reply. Finally she called "I'm coming in" and the metallic sheet slid open before she stepped inside.

"What do you want Irken…?" Gelst questioned weakly. He was lying in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin. "Go away… I'm not in the mood to…" he had a coughing fit which racked his entire body, leaving him too tired and disoriented for him to finish what he was going to say.

"Settle down," she told him; her antennae flattening in annoyance as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not here to start a fight with you. I just want to make sure you don't die before we get back to the base."

"I won't die…" he muttered closing his glowing blue eyes wearily. He was trying to appear resilient in front of the Irken, but he had been telling himself since he woke up that morning that he was going to die. At least, that's what it felt like. "Stupid Irken.,,"

"Look, I know you don't like me," Miyuki began narrowing her eyes at the creature. "And Irk knows I don't like you very much either, but you could stand to be a little more civil considering I'm trying to help you."

"How are you helping..?" he questioned cracking an eye open to glare at her. "You stand there… that won't help… it..." He clenched his teeth in pain. Why did it have to hurt so much? And now there was an Irken standing there, watching him smugly. Well not really, but she might as well have been declaring her superiority simply by being in the same room as him while he was sick.

Something tightened in his chest, and he let out a gasp as he squeezed his eyes closed. He hated showing this much weakness to any one… It was humiliating.

Minutes passed, and she was still standing there by the door. Gelst wanted to shout at her to leave, but he didn't have the energy. The room was becoming blurry as his insides quaked and protested against the sickness.

"I think I can get rid of your illness," Miyuki told him as she drew closer to the bed with a scanner from her pak in her claws. "My bio scanner indicates that you are suffering from a virus; it is a foreign substance, so I can remove it if I use this miniature teleporting device."

A circular machine attached to a tube appeared from her pak, and Gelst's eyes snapped open. He studied it for a moment before letting out a hiss in protest. There was no way he was going to allow an Irken to touch him with that thing!

"It would be painless," she said.

"Never…" Gelst croaked. "Get away… from…" He started coughing again; his small body shook and his eyes started welling with tears. He couldn't breath! It was horrifying. When the attack had passed he sucked in a breath of air and glared defiantly at Miyuki.

"Fine… do it…"

The power was turned low, so there would be no risk of accidentally taking one of his organs instead of removing the virus. She leaned over the bedridden Resisity member and gently pressed the circular tube against his chest. The device could transport things through flesh and clothing, so Gelst didn't need to remove his cloak which still kept his face hidden.

She flicked it on, and Gelst gripped the bed covers tightly as the whirring of the machine began. He could feel something getting pulled from him. He couldn't watch. His eyes pressed closed as he waited for it to be over.

When the whirring died down, he looked up at Miyuki angrily. What the heck was he thinking letting her use that strange device on him!? He sat up and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"You! What the heck did you do…" his eyes widened as he felt his torso. The pain, the sickness, it was gone!

"Where did it go?" he questioned warily.

"In me," Miyuki replied as she turned to leave.

"What?" Gelst slid out of bed and followed a few steps behind her. "Why did you do that?"

"I have a filter in my pak," she explained. "The virus will be completely gone in a few hours."

"Oh…" that made sense, but why would she do that for him in the first place? She could have let him suffer.

"I… I don't owe you anything," he stated, though he sounded unsure. Miyuki didn't respond; she simply left Gelst standing alone in stunned silence.

She didn't return to the control room, instead, she went back to Lard Nar's chambers. He had left to take command, and he probably wouldn't return until it was time for him to restore his energy. She crawled onto the bed and lay face down; her face resting against the cool pillows. The virus was going to be gone in a few hours, but until then it would dwell in her body causing as much damage as it could.

The hours past by slowly, but luckily the virus was taken care of by her pak's filter before it had a chance to get a good hold on her. She coughed a few time and got a sore throat, but that quickly faded away. Her pak made a beeping noise.

"Foreign substance has been destroyed," it said, and Miyuki sighed. Finally. She sat up and ran her fingers though her antennae, and to her surprise, she found Lard Nar standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing Miyuki?"

She smiled at him. "Taking over your bed I suppose."

"You helped Gelst."

"He admitted to that?"

"You need to be more careful. What if your idea hadn't worked?"

"Even if something had gone wrong, it wouldn't have killed him," she reassured the Vortian. "Anyway, the virus is completely gone now."

"What if it made you sick?" he asked stepping over to the bed. The door closed, and he stood at the end of the mattress looking stern.

"My pak destroyed the virus. It told me, so there's no reason to worry about it anymore."

He sat down at the end of the bed and Miyuki moved to join him. It wasn't time for him to restore his energy yet. She gave him a questioning look.

"I was… I was hurt pretty badly by the Irken soldiers…" he admitted leaning against her. "They crashed into our buildings… they used their mechanical legs to tear my lab coat from me… there was blood everywhere… I've never seen so much of my blood before but…" he bit his lip hard, causing it to bleed. "I… couldn't do anything… they were stronger than I was… We were in the labs, so all of our weapons were in the testing stage, and they had their paks and other weapons…"

Tears started running down his cheeks, and he buried his face in her robes sobbing. His small hands held onto the fabric tightly, and Miyuki wrapped her arms around him. She didn't know what else to do.

"I-I was cut up pretty badly I guess… my friends were screaming and dying, but I just lay there… I couldn't save them Miyuki… I couldn't do anything!"

"Nar…" she whispered holding him close. "There wasn't anything you could do."

"Why though…?" he whimpered. "Why were we so unprepared…?"

"I don't know why… I wasn't there," she replied letting her antennae fall. "If I had been…"

"You would have stopped it…?"

"It never would have begun."

The room fell silent except for the Vortian's muffled sobs as he clung to her almost out of desperation. After a while, he was able to calm himself enough to continue speaking.

"Th-that's when I took the ship… the energy barriers collapsed when the soldiers came… I must have looked dead or something because after they did that… they left me alone… At first I couldn't move, but I was scared… I didn't want to be there anymore…"

"How did Dorik find you?"

"He saw me I guess... heading to the lab's docking bay. There was only one ship there… Dorik had been standing in a line with other foreign scientists, but he and others started fighting after he saw me… he was the only one that broke free though; I guess his size was more than the Irkens were prepared for, but outside the labs there were so many bodies… mostly women and smeets. They wanted to control us and the blood; it coated everything, streets, Vortians, Irkens, and buildings… it sounded like everyone was screaming…"

Lard Nar's voice cracked, and his body began trembling. His tears continued to fall as he tried to say more, but Miyuki rested one of her hands on his head and told him no. She worried that if he said anything more, he would shatter like a piece of glass. Eventually his grip on her robes slackened and his sobs quieted. His body was exhausted from crying, and he soon fell asleep.

**More Notes:** I thought about writing everything that happened, but then I thought "would you want to talk about every detail of your torture experience?" Obviously I thought the answer was no, so the story Lard Nar tells is very vague.


	13. Chapter 13

**More Notes: **I'm trying to post this quick before I have to go to work, so I'm going to attempt to keep the notes brief. Disclaimer: I still don't own Invader Zim.

**The Middle Ground**

They had returned to the base; Miyuki was in the snacking room with Spleenk and Fleeb, sitting at one of the tables. There wouldn't be anything to do until Lard Nar and Shloonktapooxis returned with the package from Food Courtia. Before they left, Miyuki urged them to convince more aliens to join the Resisty. Word had already spread that the resistance had freed the conveyer belt planet with the help of a mysterious stranger.

The stories were a little exaggerated, at least Miyuki knew that she didn't breathe fire or shoot lightening from her eyes. When she had first heard someone say that, she laughed and shook her head in wonder.

Miyuki had agreed with Lard Nar that the best way to hinder the Irken invasion would be to capture the invaders. She had gone on the computer and developed a list of names from Conventia's databases. Being a former Tallest, she knew many of the codes needed to access all sorts of Irken information.

"There were eighteen invaders assigned to conquer a planet, but I have narrowed the list down a little to include only those that are still alive and have yet to take full control over their planets," Miyuki began holding out her list for Spleenk and Fleeb to see. She had changed back into her black outfit and rustic coloured cloak. Not all of the blood had come out, so the fabric looked a bit more orange then it had before.

"Each one of them has been given a S.I.R unit; a robot that specializes in gathering information. They can be fairly dangerous to deal with since they keep weapons stored away in their bodies… the invaders themselves are no pushovers either. Each one of them had to go through rigorous amounts of training just to be considered for participating in any kind of military operation."

"So… how are we going to capture them then?" Spleenk asked scratching his head.

"I'll have to discuss that with Nar," Miyuki replied. "I've selected four possible targets for the Resisty. The invader sent to planet Meekrob; Tenn, Slacks who is currently trying to conquer Boodie-Nen, Flobee, the Irken that was sent to invade Blubana, and Skutch on his assigned planet Kreedor."

Fleeb nodded while Spleenk placed his hand on his chin.

"Four huh?" Spleenk questioned. "And they're trained to fight really well? So… how do you think we're going to do this? I mean we can't just zap them on board and overwhelm them without someone dying, and shooting them first would probably be pretty difficult with those mechanical legs of theirs. They can go pretty fast with those things right?"

"I've gone through some of the same training as the Elite slodiers," Miyuki replied putting away the list of invaders. "Teleport me down, and I'll give them a fight."

"But what if you get in trouble?" Fleeb enquired.

"Then I will make an opening that will allow you to shoot them with the ship's weaponry."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Spleenk asked looking a bit worried.

"I'll be fine," she reassured them, and she smiled. "Of course, I'll have to get Lard Nar to agree…"

"Do you think he will?" Spleenk questioned looking from Fleeb to Miyuki.

"I don't see why not," Miyuki answered rising from the table. "It's all pretty logical."

"Absolutely not!" Lard Nar exclaimed when Miyuki told him her plans.

He and Shloonktapooxis had returned with the package. It was huge and currently every Resisty member had been deployed to unload it. It was filled with snacks; the resistance wouldn't have to worry about food for a while. They had even picked up a couple more members.

"I can fight as well as any invader," Miyuki argued. "I was Tallest after all; that's more elite than the elite."

"Being Tallest doesn't make you strong Miyuki," Lard Nar shot back. "That's Irken's way of thinking! You're taller, but that doesn't make you more skilled than the shorter fighters; I mean they've been out there practicing their killing techniques when you were trapped inside that blob monster."

"And I have been killing things since before they were cloned; I'm fairly confident I know what I'm capable of, besides, I am Irken. It's only natural that I adopted my people's way of thinking when it comes to height."

"Oh, and what about me huh?" he snapped glaring at her.

"My thoughts don't extend to other races Nar," she stated evenly.

"Why not!?"

"Umm…" Miyuki blinked and looked around. They were in the provisions room; the tables and chairs had been moved to make room for the gigantic crate of snacks. "There isn't that much to explain really, just observation."

Lard Nar held his head and muttered an apology. He wasn't exactly sure why he had gotten so offended by her words.

"You're not going out there alone and that's final," he stated.

"You could at least tell me why not."

"If you got seriously hurt or killed, we; the Resisty, would be in trouble," Lard Nar replied. "Since you've come we've actually started doing something productive instead of following Spleenk's horrible plans."

Miyuki's hood slipped down and her expression changed, becoming sterner, and Lard Nar swallowed and backed away a few steps.

"I didn't mean… you're not a tool Miyuki… I just," he sighed; his shoulders sagging in defeat. Even if he did like her more than he expressed, she would never be able to return his feelings. How could he tell her that he cared for her? Would she understand?

"I just don't want anything to happen to you, because you're important to me."

Her antennae perked up and her eyes widened a little. "Oh… is that why?"

Lard Nar lowered his head. He couldn't believe that he had actually admitted it to her.

"Yeah… sorry, I guess…it kind of happened."

"You don't have to apologise for feeling something Nar," she told him. "Though I must admit, this does explain your strange behaviour recently."

"What do you mean strange?"

"I've never seen a Vortian cry before."

"Oh… that…"

"But I accept your feelings."

Lard Nar's mouth fell open. "W-what!?" This wasn't something he'd been expecting at all.

Miyuki smiled down at him. "I said I accept your feelings for me."

The equivalent of this conversation in most alien cultures involving males and females was asking someone if they would be your mate, and accepting. Lard Nar flushed and shook his head. There was no way Miyuki knew what she was saying.

"Th-that's not what I meant! Besides… you can't mean that," he told her.

"I mean every word of it," she replied. "You told me that you had feelings for me, and I accepted those feelings. This means we're together now, correct?"

"No, I mean, yes, but are you sure you want accept so easily?"

"Irkens don't have mates Nar, and we are called defectives if we display what the Control Brains have deemed 'old emotions' that are no longer necessary to the Empire. I don't see how this is an easy choice."

He gripped his arm tightly as he continued looking down at the floor. "You're right… I'm sorry."

"This stuff is heavy," Spleenk complained as the doors opened and he stumbled into the room with a box in his hands. He couldn't see where he was going, so he bumped into Miyuki.

"Sorry," he said turning a little and running straight into a table. "Ouch!"

Miyuki chuckled before pulling the cloak back over her head and leaving to help the crew unload the smaller crates. Perhaps it was a little too much asking Lard Nar to allow her to fight alone… Non-Irkens tended to rely more on emotion than actual logic, so it was no surprise that the Vortian had so thoughtlessly declined.

During the day hours the base was alive and busy, but everything began to wind down at 19.00. Fleeb's people were pretty good with their hands and loading and shipping had been their expertise before they were rescued by the Resisty; that's probably why they avoided doing it now. While everyone else was busy unloading the packages, the small yellow aliens worked on expanding the base with Schloonktapooxis.

They now had six rooms instead of four, but somehow this caused even more passages to appear. The maze that connected the rooms together was becoming increasingly difficult to navigate.

The door glided open, and Miyuki stepped into Lard Nar's room, surprising the Vortian who was just about to get dressed. He had removed his goggles and undid the clasp for the top of his uniform, so he wasn't unclothed at all, but he seemed uncomfortable anyway.

"What are you doing Miyuki?" he questioned sounding a little exasperated. "You're supposed to knock first."

"That's what I've been doing out of courtesy," Miyuki replied. "But I don't remember you ever asking me to knock."

"That's because it is a common courtesy! I expect that you would just do it."

"Well, I decided not to do it this time."

Lard Nar groaned and rubbed his temples. Sometimes he wondered about her… the things she said didn't always make sense to him.

"Why…?" he asked.

"I have a lot I wish to discuss, so I decided to show my impatience by barging in," she explained as she went to sit on the edge of his bed.

He scowled at her. Was that all?

"Even so, I don't want you to barge in on me anymore."

"You wanted me to barge in before…?" she questioned, misunderstanding him again.

Recently she'd been distracted by thoughts of capturing the Irken invaders. She kept worrying about what would happen to them once they were taken by the Resisty, and even more worrisome was the thought of one of the members of the resistance getting hurt or killed in the process…

"No!" the Vortian snapped. "My gods Miyuki… what's wrong with you?"

"Hm? Are you angry?" she asked offhandedly.

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. Maybe she had been thinking a little too much recently. Irkens were used to having everything programmed for them… when she was the Tallest, the Control Brains would determine a lot of her actions. She had been thinking for herself for a while now, and it was starting to affect her.

Maybe she should try the non-Irken way of recharging… it seemed to work for Spleenk and Lard Nar.

"No I'm not… I'm just concerned…" the Vortian replied moving a little bit closer to Miyuki. "You seem distracted… it's about our plans isn't it?"

She gave him a smile. "Yes, I do want to discuss our next course of action. That's why I didn't knock, remember?"

"Uh… yeah," he motioned for her to sit down on the bed. "We'll talk about that then."

He balked when he saw Miyuki reaching to take off her cloak. Stumbling backwards, he covered his eyes until his back struck the wall. He had accepted his feelings, but that didn't mean they were going to… did it? Miyuki rolled her eyes as she threw the heavy thing onto the floor.

"You know I'm wearing clothes underneath right?"

Lard Nar peered passed his fingers and saw that she was in fact wearing clothes. Sighing, he lowered his hands and pushed himself away from the wall.

"You shouldn't do sudden things like that," he scolded as he crawled onto the bed.

"It's not my fault that you forgot I was wearing clothes underneath."

"That's not the point Miyuki. You can't just…" his eyes grew large when he realized that she had one of her mechanical legs sticking out from her pak.

It wasn't pointed at him per say… actually; she was using it to place her cloak somewhere, but still.

"W-what are you doing…?" he stammered watching her nervously. He chewed his lip as she came towards him, but he willed himself not to retreat from her. It wasn't going to work. Already he could feel his chest squeezing fearfully, fighting against his will as his breathing quickened to keep pace with his heart.

"Miyuki…?

Her antennae lowered, and she let out a small sigh as the metal appendage withdrew into her pak. The cloak dropped neatly onto the small end table. She had a look of disappointment on her face as he seated herself on the bed and drew Lard Nar close to her. A part of her hoped that these arguments that they kept having hadn't been anything important… but it seemed that he believed that she had been angered enough to do something horrible.

"Why…?" he asked in a weakened voice. His hands shook as he reached to grip the arm she had placed around him. He hugged this arm tightly, and tears flooded down his cheeks.

"Why did you do that Miyuki…? I… I trusted you… I've told you painful things and now… are you really that annoyed with me…? Did I do something wrong…?"

"You didn't do anything wrong Nar… I'm not angry."

"Then why…?"

"I wanted to know if you were still frightened of me."

"You…? No Miyuki," he rested his head against her as he continued holding her arm close; it was as though for him is offered some measure of security. "I'm not afraid of you… It's Irkens… I… their paks, your pak, they frighten me…"

"I'm sorry. I misunderstood your willingness to argue as a sign of dislike towards me."

"We argue a lot don't we…?"

"Yes, but that's partially my fault. I shouldn't second guess your authority, but since I was once the Tallest, following someone else's orders is a little strange for me. Besides, I'm still coded as a Tallest. Maybe if I changed the code to something else I wouldn't be so confrontational."

"Do codes and things really matter?"

"Hm… I don't know how to answer that," she admitted. "It's like a badge of honour, so a Tallest will feel more important than an invader, an invader more important than a trainee, and a trainee more important than a drone." She looked down at Nar who was staring blankly a head of him.

"We really should discuss the plan though. I want to go alone; you don't want me to go alone, so we should probably reach some kind of compromise before we leave," she said.

"Take two others with you, and I'll let you do the ground work."

"It's dangerous though Nar," Miyuki interjected. "There is a real possibility that someone could get killed."

"We didn't start the Resisty expecting that there would be no danger involved Miyuki… ask two others to go with you. That's my final offer."

She sighed. "Ok, I'll take two with me then… but no communication devices. Flobee could have a way of listening in on our conversations that way. We're going to have to have everything planned out ahead of time."

"And if you need help..?"

"Light signals," Miyuki answered. "I'll used the metal in my pak to send a distress signal. You know how to read flashes right?"

"Yes… I used to play games using flash signals when I was little… but the invader will probably know them too."

"It's not a part of Irken training, so I don't think he would. Anyway, this is just to keep our communication lines clear. We don't want to accidentally give out any information, like our names for example."

"Alright…" Lard Nar said pushing away from her. "Now can you leave so I can get dressed?"

"You're already dressed," Miyuki noted.

"No, I mean in pyjamas."

Miyuki rose from the bed. "Ok, I'll be back shortly," she informed him as she strode towards the door.

"Knock this time," he told her.

She stood in the hallway and removed her pak that clicked in protest. The back opened and she searched for the device that restored her energy. It was attached to the bottom, and she gave it a flick to turn it off. Now she would be able to sleep like everyone else did… and mauve clear her mind about the things that were troubling her.

"Hey Miyuki, did Lard Nar kick you out?" Spleenk asked. Three of his arms hung limply at his side, but he was using the forth one to rub the back of his head as he offered up a lop-sided grin. "I'm in pain…"

"Even after all those breaks you took?" she questioned, and Spleenk laughed.

"I don't have a pak Miyuki, a torn muscle isn't going to heal in five minutes for me. I have four arms too! Four of them, and I hurt three."

"You probably strained them…" she remarked pursing her lips and frowning a little. "You aren't allowed to carry anymore boxes until your injuries heal."

"But I want to help out," Spleenk said lowering his eyes to the floor. "I'm always messing things up… Lard Nar will be mad if he finds out I messed up again."

"He wouldn't get angry at you for that would he?" she asked.

"I don't know actually… maybe?"

**More Notes: **So alien habits and things aren't really common knowledge to most Irkens. Miyuki thought she had the whole 'barging in' thing figured out, but she didn't take into account that Lard Nar hates it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's notes: Disclaimer: **I don't own Invader Zim at all.

So I quit my job which means I have more time to update… of course I had plenty of time to update before. I just lacked motivation. However, my computer crashed and tried to take everything with it. Luckily all of my projects are still in tact, and my motivation to upload the rest of this fanfic had improved 20%.

* * *

**Capturing Flobee**

Something was on top of him… Lard Nar opened his eyes slowly, and squinted. The ceiling gradually came into focus, and he turned his head to see the cause of the light pressure on his chest.

Miyuki was sleeping next to him on the bed, and what he felt was her arm draped over him. It was strange seeing her actually sleeping. Irkens didn't sleep because their paks provided them with all the energy they needed. His eyes widened a little with this early morning realization, and he propped himself on his elbows so he could look down at her.

Maybe her pak wasn't functioning properly.

He carefully rested his hand on her arm and gave it a gentle shake.

"What is it…?" she murmured. Her head felt heavy and her eyes didn't want to open. She must be experiencing some kind of sleep hangover she decided.

"Are you feeling ok?" Lard Nar asked and he gasped when she pulled him into her. He shut his eyes as he felt his cheek touch the soft fabric of her clothing. There was nothing threatening about this action, yet Lard Nar's muscles tensed anyway. He wasn't used to this…

"I'm fine," she told him softly. Her eyes were closed and her antennae were limp; she still had two more hours before her pak woke her properly. It was only 5.00 hours.

"Why are you sleeping then…?" Lard Nar asked as he forced himself to regard her. "You don't need to."

"I've been thinking too much recently… I wanted a break," she replied sounding drowsy. "Go back to sleep…"

"I can't if you keep holding me like this," Lard Nar stated. His eyes widened a little when her grip slackened, and he carefully pushed himself away before resting back down and staring up at the ceiling. He kept glancing at the sleeping Irken next to him. Her soft breaths were drowned out by Spleenk's snores, but he could see her chest rising and falling peacefully. If she was dreaming; it was probably a peaceful dream.

She trusted him enough to sleep by his side…

"Miyuki…?" he whispered turning so that he was lying close to her.

"Mn?" she responded absently.

"What do you dream about?"

"Irk and Vort…" she replied. "Back when they used to be allied with each other."

"Really…?" he asked curling against her. "I wish my dreams were like that."

"We'll make this our dream then," she answered as she pulled the blanket around them. "This life can be our dream… even if things never go back to the way they were before."

…

It had been two days since the package arrived. Everything had calmed down now that the movement of wooden boxes had ended.

The Resisty left in the early morning and began traveling towards Blubana. The plan was simple; locate the invader's signal, inform the locals of the Irken intrusion, discover the Irken's hidden base, and land a team of three on the planet to battle with the enemy. The other members would remain inside the ship ready to provide backup fire if needed.

A jungle… that's what most of the planet was covered in. Miyuki stared at the strange trees from a large screen in the control room. The people that populated this planet were grey with stocky rock-like bodies. They appeared from a grove of trees, staring at the strange vessel curiously.

"Good luck," Spleenk called as Miyuki, Gelst, and Schloontapooxis exited the ship.

"If you run into any problems, I want you to return immediately!" Lard Nar shouted at them from the open hanger, and Miyuki turned back and smiled though it was covered by the hood of her cloak. She waved to acknowledge she'd heard him before turning her attention to the rock people off in the distance.

"Alright… lets find out if we can understand their language or not," Miyuki said as she began walking towards the rock creatures. "If not, I will have to use the decoder in my pak, and it might take a few minutes for the translator to take affect."

Their language was fairly basic, but no one could understand a word of it, so Miyuki stepped in to act as a translator. She asked them questions, they answered, and she would tell her two companions what had just been said. This continued until the whole story was told, and Miyuki realized that they didn't have much time left.

"I bet the only reason the Armada hasn't swept over this planet yet is because of the giant Dunnis Beetles. Their shells are reflective, so the Massive's weapons were at risk of been deflected," she told them. "And Flobee just got rid of the last beetle yesterday."

One of the rock creatures gestured to the trees and made a few sounds that Miyuki's pak translated into Irken. She spoke to him, and her words were translated into his language.

"Flobee is their leader, and they think highly of him for getting rid of the beetles," she said to Gelst and Shloonktapooxis. "They didn't believe me when I told them he was an alien invader… so I guess this means we're going to have to show them."

"How are we going to do that?" Shloonktapooxis questioned sticking his tongue.

"After invaders have completed a job, they leave the planet and notify the Armada," Miyuki explained to them. "That means Flobee should be preparing to leave. If this is the case he is likely by himself."

"We need to find his base then," Gelst said, and Miyuki nodded in agreement.

She asked the stone creatures if they would show her and her two companions to their leader. Miyuki, Gelst, and Shloonktapooxis followed them up a hill to a large chair where their leader usually sat. He wasn't there, so the rock people took them to the village and showed them their leader's residence.

On the outside, it looked like a regular tent, and the inside looked innocent enough too. Unfortunately for Flobee, Miyuki knew the layout of an invader's base, and she found one of the elevators that led down to the lower chambers. The security system had already been activated, but Miyuki was fast. She tore past the lasers and dove through the hole in the floor before the elevator platform had time to reach the top.

From there she crawled into another opening and followed it through the darkness into the lower chambers. She was searching for the launch room where Flobee would keep his ship ready to leave the planet. She knew she had left Gelst and Shloonktapooxis behind; she had done so on purpose. It would be less dangerous for them if they remained above ground.

The invader had already gotten rid of his rock costume and was preparing his cruiser to leave the planet. There was no time for hesitation. Miyuki dropped down from a vent in the ceiling of the launch room; there were only a few pieces of technology attached to the walls leaving a wide space in the middle so that it would be easy for the invader to take flight, and she stood in the open.

Flobee turned when he heard something clack against the floor, and his red Irken eyes widened when he saw the intruder.

"Who are…?"

Before he could get any more words out, Miyuki sprinted forward and grabbed him by the throat. His mechanical legs extended, slashing at her cloak and causing her to bleed. She called one of her own metal limbs from her pak and used it to combat his.

They fought for a while until both were bleeding. Flobee called his base's defences to fire lasers from devices in the walls. Miyuki dove behind his cruiser, which took some damage from the weaponry, and Flobee was forced to call off the lasers. If his voot cruiser suffered anymore damage, he wouldn't be able to leave. Finally his SIR unit appeared from another part of the base and it used it's arsenal to fight its master's attacker. It shot missiles, lasers, and all sorts of painful things, forcing Miyuki to dash all around the Irken's ship until she was able to use the laser at the end of her mechanical leg to strike the robot.

Using this break in the fire, Miyuki sprang out from behind the small ship and lashed out at Flobee once more, striking him in the torso so that he was impaled on her metal leg. He let out a frightened squeak when he realized what had happened, and he quickly began struggling to free himself. She slammed him hard against the wall, and his pak struck it causing sparks to fly. His eyes became dull and his small body fell limp from the painful device that had pierced through his middle. The SIR came at her again, this time with its fists, but she used the same device to ram it into the Voot hard enough to stop it for good.

Miyuki looked down at the Irken that lay bleeding at her feet. She closed her eyes and dropped to her knees as tears threatened to flood down her cheeks. Why did it have to end up like this…?

She reached for Flobee's arm and ripped the self-destruct device from him. There was no time to hesitate now… She turned him over and opened his pak, ripping the mechanical legs from it and dropping them to the floor. The sharp silver edges caught her hand, and she bit her lip in pain.

The base's computer reacted violently when she tried to hack into it. Long metallic arms appeared from the walls and ceiling, grabbing at her as she toyed with the keyboard. When this didn't work, she smashed one of her metal spider legs into the control panels which caused a small explosion that cut off the power and caused the base to fall into complete blackness.

In the mean while, Gelst and Shloonktapooxis had shown the rock people enough Irken technology for them to believe that their leader was really an alien, but they still didn't believe that Flobee would try to destroy their planet. He had gotten rid of the beetles after all.

It would take Miyuki to convince them, but she had disappeared into the depths below. Shloonktapooxis gazed down into the darkness. Everything had become eerily quiet.

"Geslt told me you ran off to fight the Irken invader on your own," Lard Nar stated folding his arms as he glared up at her from behind his goggles.

"Yes I did," Miyuki admitted as she tried to fend off Spleenk who had come after her with a roll of bandages he'd discovered in the back of their battleship. "And I was able to capture Flobee and destroy his base."

"But look what happened to you!" Lard Nar shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're covered in gashes! He used those things from his pak on you didn't he!?"

"They look worse than they actually are," Miyuki stated stubbornly. "I'll be fine by the time we reach Boodie-Nen."

"I'm not going to allow you to leave the ship Miyuki," Lard Nar decided, and he sighed. "You need time for your wounds to heal… and I don't want you to argue with me this time."

"Fine," she replied, and her antennae perked up when she side stepped Spleenk. "We shouldn't contact the Tallest until all of the targeted invaders have been captured, so I guess that means I'll be sleeping off these scratches."

Lard Nar scoffed at her. "Scratches? They're more than just scratches."

"Yeah Miyuki," Spleenk was quick to agree. "You should put something one those. At least wrap them up so they don't get infected."

"They'll be gone in a few hours," she stated, and she sighed heavily. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find something to wash this blood off."

"The soap is in the back," Spleenk told her holding up the bandages.

She left, and Lard Nar looked up at Spleenk who smiled back at him. The Vortian recoiled a little. "What…? What's with that look?"

"Oh nothing… it's just good to see you worrying about someone."

"Gelst insists on going out again, and I've already decided to go," Lard Nar said changing the subject. "Dorik has volunteered to come with us, so that means Shloonktapooxis will be left in charge."

"What about Miyuki?" Spleenk questioned setting the roll of bandages down on the table. "If she finds out that you're gone, she'll probably leave the ship!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, I have this really strong feeling that she would probably do that."

"If she does try, stop her."

"You know that's easier said than done…" Spleenk remarked scratching his head.

"I know, but I can't have her running around in that state…"

A crash came from one of the back rooms, and both Spleenk and Lard Nar rushed down the hallway to see what had happened. The doors buzzed open and Miyuki raised her head looking slightly embarrassed. She was lying on the floor, and there were blood on almost everything.

"What did I tell you!?" Lard Nar shouted as Spleenk bent over to help her off the ground. He took her by both arms and slowly pulled her to her feet. She had removed her tattered blood soaked cloak revealing a mess of large slash marks that fell across her torso and lower arms. Spleenk's hands were already coated in her blood.

"The wounds you get in battle don't matter," Miyuki told them softly. "As long as you come out on top, it doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Spleenk said allowing her to lean on him for support. "We can't have anyone dying on us because they didn't want to take care of themselves."

"There won't be any scars. My pak speeds up the healing process which for us is nearly perfect. I just need a few hours of rest, and I'll be fine."

"Go lie down then," Lard Nar told her, and she shook her head. Despite feeling worn out from completing her mission, she was still too aware to sleep. Her mind kept racing; her muscles were tense, ready for an assault. "Just go lie down before you collapse again… Ok?"

Miyuki sighed and Spleenk slowly led her from the room. With his help, she was able to make it to Lard Nar's room, and she collapsed onto the bed while Gelst and Shloonktapooxis watched and listened from the hall.

Gelst balled his hads into fists angrily. Did she think they were useless? Is that why she left them behind? Irkens were so arrogant! He would show her next time just how strong he could be.

The door closed after Spleenk who sighed as he approached the two standing in the passageway.

"Is Miyuki ok?" Shloonktapooxis asked worriedly. Gelst only scoffed.

"I think she'll be alright," Spleenk answered. "She said as long as her pak was functioning normally, her body would recover fairly quickly… I wonder why she took off on her own though."

"Why do you think she took off!?" Gelst snapped, and Shloonktapooxis made a face at him. "She's Irken that's why!"

* * *

**Author's notes: **I believe Irkens are naturally independent. Miyuki ran off to fight Flobee on her own because of her upbringing. A part of her was worried about Gelst and Shloonktapooxis, but really she was insulting them because she felt she was stronger than both of them. She didn't believe that either one of them would be much help to her in fighting the Irken invader. Gelst realizes this, and that's why he's angry at the end of the chapter.


End file.
